Yugioh Unlimited Boundary RW
by Alastor Nightshade
Summary: A rewrite and continuation, Unlimited Boundary tells of socially awkward Enzeru Adokenai and her story. See why so many people liked the original, and follow the story all over again or the first time. Chapter 8 is up.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes

By popular demand and personal guilt, I'm back in the FF Net world. There are just a couple of things I would like to clear up before the story begins, and this applies to existing fans of the series and new ones

1: This is a rewrite of the original story, which I will leave posted just for the hell of it. You DO NOT need to know anything about the older version to read this one. Rewrite. From the beginning. Some things may be changed from the original story.

2: I actually know how to play Yugioh. All duels that take place in the story and all cards mentioned are real, and all combos/moves done are completely realistic, and work in the game. No godhands, no fake cards to force the main characters to win, no random card draws that the anime loves to do. 100 percent real.

3: In the case of some characters, cards from the japanese Duel Terminal series may be used (Genex, etc.) and may be unfamiliar to some people. I assure that they exist, and if I feel up to it by the end of this chapter, I will have "Featured Card" segments. In such cases, the original names of these cards will be used (Ex: Genex Heat instead of Genex Furnace.)

4: Four-thousand life points are used in almost every duel I write, not because I don't know to use eight-thousand, but because it makes for a much better read and serves homage to the anime setup. If every duel I wrote used 8000 points, they would take forever to write and some of the story would have to be cut to compensate. No one likes that. And yes, there's a story here. A good one.

5: To everyone who has submitted an OC. I still have it. But if you still would like me to use them, I ask that you PM me again so that I can make sure. If any of you have updated your OC's let me know before they become story relevant. I am no longer currently accepting OC's, but that does not mean that I won't in the future, so keep up :d

Have fun, and enjoy the story. There's cursing, violence. Probably sex. Mature themes. Stuff like that. Oh, and card games. Watch out for those tricky bastards.

* * *

**_Enzeru: Oh shit._**

**_Arata: Holy shit!_**

**_Alek: No shit..._**

**_Yu-gi-oh! - Unlimited Boundary Redeux!_**

**_Chapter One - The Unlimited Boundary_**

**_Theme Song : Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight_**

**_http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=1P73OQd2wsU_**

* * *

I have never seen so many people in one place before...

The wooden docks seemed to tremble with the presence of hundreds, the relaxing sounds of the sea muffled under the simultaneous talking. I was little more than a face in this crowd, barely even that. No one knew my name. No one knew I was even here, or why I was even here. The approaching vessel, I had hoped, would change that. There was a lingering feeling in my heart, something telling me that I was making a mistake.

"Stay home," it told me. "Stay home where you belong. Stay by yourself. You won't last long there anyway, right?"

Not even the roar of the ship could wake me from that trance. Definitely took a couple of years off of my life, though... It scared the hell out of me.

Why was I even here? You never question a big decision more than right before it counts... The boat slowed down, raising a hell of waves beneath it while the intercom rang through our ears, getting louder and louder as the massive ship inched closer. The letters SDA were written in white across the blue bottom-half of the ship, and the deck seemed to go on forever. The feedback cleared, and the voice erupted from the speakers.

"Hello, future and returning students! Southern Duel Academy welcomes you onto the ship, clear the area for docking!"

The people his comment applied to did as they were ordered, but I had no reason to care. I was too far back, behind the bulk of the crowd and hidden amongst faces. The speaker seemed more excited than most of the people here, trying to incite enthusiasm.

"Prepare your I.D. pass and any baggage you have with you," a set of ramps decent from the boat-side, each with one man at the top and quickly flooding with people. "Form orderly lines and make yourselves comfortable upon arriving on deck."

All I had was the floral tank top on my back, the black jeans and belt around my waist, and the pack swung over my shoulder. I didn't really need anything else... I wasn't leaving much more than a memory behind, at least not anymore. My ties with Neo Domino ceased to exist from this day forward.

It was about an hours wait, the newfound excitement made it feel like only seconds, before I heard this:

"Name and I.D., please," from the well dressed CIA clone awaiting me at the peak of the ramp. I was excited, until then. Until the moment where I actually had to speak...

"Um..." I flashed him my I.D. pass, a blushing picture of me with minor bio information. "En...zeru. Enzeru... Adoken...ai."

Sometimes, it felt as if two people were inside of me. Not really two people, more like two forces. The thoughts in my head were one of them, my true feelings and beliefs, a person I only wish I was. The other was my voice, the force that defined me. On the inside, I could be as opinionated as I wanted... But never could I actually express these feelings. On the outside was this powerful, defensive shell of social awkwardness. Surrounded by strangers, thrown into an environment I've never seen... I'm surprised I could get a word out.

A few seconds and an awkward look later, and my eyes were to the ground, watching my feet press forward onto the vessel. I was actually here...

The boat was set for departure in a couple of hours, so I had plenty of time to kill... Not that I had anything to do with that time. Just kind of stood in place... People passed me up from behind, people walked right by, and the formation of cliques began. The formation of cliques, and duels.

As expected, students couldn't wait to raise their disks and start at each others throats. The thrill of the game. Monsters being summoned, spells being cast, traps being set, and life points being stolen. I smiled, looked down to the deck case clipped to my belt, took another look around, picked a direction, took a deep breath... And found the nearest wall to sit against.

People watching. It's a professional sport.

I felt like such a little kid sitting there, though. Too scared to ask someone to play with her...

"That's fucking ridiculous!" Complained the loud voice of a distant man.

"Well, stop challenging her then!" Complained a second voice.

"I refuse, she can't win every time!" The first growled.

"What the fuck are you doing?" A woman asked. I peeked up from my comfortable position, to see a brief rain of cards across the deck. My feet moved faster than my mind, and my hands pushed me from the deck and forward onto my knees, collecting as much of the deck as I could in my hands. The man responsible did the same, our hands racing to collect as many as possible as if some kind of game. Few seconds needed to pass, and the two of us were on our feet, pointing at the other with the halves we collected. The two of us walked in a circle, as if in stalemate. His feet inched towards the rail, mine towards the woman. She ran at the man, growling with her fist back.

"Down, Arata," the man smiled. "If you even look at me the wrong way, your deck is going over!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Arata growled, taking a step back towards me to settle the man's hand.

"And you," He looked at me. "Give those to me."

A brisk wind tossed my red hair about, trying to conceal the emerald glare I gave him.

"He's not joking with you," A man in similar outfit but much longer hair snuck beside him. Jeans and t-shirt was a favorite today, also what Arata was adorning. Different colors of course... "Give it here."

I looked at the small stack that I had, then over to Arata, who just watched me. I thought for only a second, dropped the bag on my back to the ground, and knelt down to tear the slit open. I swapped my deck with Arata's in the case at my waist, and removed my duel disk from the bag.

"You're kidding," He said.

"If you want this half," I slid my arm into place, lighting the disk as two halves came together on the right of my wrist. "You'll play me for it."

His disk then activated, an idle response to mine. A hologram screen rose from the life point counter, prompting him to accept or deny my request. "Why should I bother? I can just get rid of these now and never have to worry about it again."

"Do that, and you'll have her on you. She can't touch you so long as you have her deck, but you won't be satisfied unless you have all of it."

"What the fuck? You're betting my shit in a duel?" Arata glared at me next.

I twisted my smile. Not the reaction I wanted... Can't win them all I guess.

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Arata asked. "You could be just as bad as him!"

Come on now...

The man just laughed at me.

"Fine, fine... I'll bet my deck too," I sighed.

He laughed even harder. "For what, my deck? Fuck that."

"I didn't say that. I'm not interested in taking your cards from you, all I want is what you took from Arata. Nothing more. Against that, I bet both my deck and what I have of hers. Fair enough?" I asked, both him and Arata. "I'm not asking you to trust me with your life or anything, and as far as I'm concerned you never have to see me again after this... I just want to resolve this as un-violently as possible... You were wronged, and I want it to stop there."

She didn't speak. Not a word... As for the man, I couldn't care less what he said. I detached a small, red eyeglass from my duel disk and slid it over my eye, wrapped around my ear like a headset. All I needed to hear was the chime of his disk, the confirmation sound from the hologram screen, and the interface speak.

"DUEL DISK SET"

"D-GAZER SET"

**_Duel!_**

Enzeru - 4000

Gradius Guy - 4000

Remember the two forces? Well I guess there's a third one. A combination of the two existing personalities. Intense and risky, but rational. Intelligent, but subtle. My "real" face, I guess you could say. The person I've always wanted to be.

"I had planned on spending the boat ride fixing it up... But I guess this deck will have to suffice," I smiled at him.

"I'll have no trouble defeating a scrub, this won't take long."

I looked back at Arata. "I've got it covered... Alright?"

She just nodded, threw her back to the wall, and watched on.

"I'll start, I draw!" The man pulled six cards from the top of his deck. I pulled the normal five.

Herald of Purple Light, Beckoning Light, Negate Attack, Honest, Dawn of the Herald...

"I'll start by summoning my Victory Viper XX03(1200/1000, Light/Machine/Effect, Level 4) in attack position, and setting two cards face-down."

A glistening dance of shining sparkles brought forth the battleship. A size large enough to compensate the low points, it hovered over the holographic card beneath it, a set of lasers set to fire.

"I end my turn with that. Impress me."

"My turn then, I draw!"

Call of the Haunted.

"I set three cards, and set one monster in defense position!"

A much less dramatic turn. Four cards were then placed before me, three of the vertical, the one above horizontal.

"And that's it."

"I'm scared now," The man teased. "I draw again, my turn."

He paused for a moment.

"Then, I summon my Gradius(1200/1000, Light/Machine, Level 4) in attack position as well, and send my Victory Viper to attack your monster!" A second ship appeared, standing by for its brother to strike. The ship fired its weapons, to be nullified by my trap.

"Negate attack," I tapped the appropriate button on my disk, revealing one of my face-down cards. "I'm safe from your attacks."

"For now," He sighed. "I end."

The card vanished, and I pulled the next from my deck.

Majestic Mech - Ohka

A favorite.

"I activate the effect of Majestic Mech - Ohka from my hand. With it, I can summon him without the normal tribute cost."

"I know the effect. He won't last longer than a turn, though."

"A turn is all I need him for. Go, then! Majestic Mech - Ohka! (2400/1400, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 6)"

Before my eyes was a pastors dream. Light danced, wings spread, and an angel sang as a lion roared. Glowing crimson lit up the off-red metal that formed my familiar. A blinding light gathered between its maw. "Attack, my beast! Take Gradius out!"

Before the secondary battleship could prep a gun, its metal frame was engulfed by the violet light.

"I then activate the effect of Honest from my hand, increasing Ohka's attack by the monster he battles..." I tossed the card into the graveyard mid-attack, and watched the blast thicken. A second pair of wings spread from Ohka's back, signifying the successful sacrifice of Honest.

The man covered his eyes to protect him from the light, speaking the moment the attack died down to admire what was left of his monster. Nothing.

"A powerful card to waste," He coughed. "You're worse than I thought... Your monster could have taken mine out without the use of Honest! A very rare card, though. I look forward to adding it to my deck."

"Yeah, we'll see," I smiled back at him.

Enzeru - 4000

Gradius Guy - 1600

"It was a nice dent in my points, I'll admit, but that's how it's going to remain!"

"I end my turn, and Ohka vanishes from the field... You did well," I watched him fade.

"My turn again, I draw!" The man pulled, and moved right into his turn. "And summon a second Gradius (1200/1000, Light/Machine, Level 4) to the field. Once again, Victory Viper! Attack and destroy her only monster!"

The lasers charged once more, and fired at my face-down monster. A small bundle of violet light, with tiny wings barely able to keep him in the air. The guns tore the card's hologram apart, sending it right to the graveyard.

I sighed.

"When Victory Viper destroys a monster by battle, I can pick between three effects. In this situation, I'll use the last one, and summon a token identical to my battleship."

Identical, in every way, in every stat. Both that token and the remaining Gradius ship prepared their guns, and aimed for me. A blue, square interface screen rose up from my disk, displaying the number "4000". As the guns were launched, and smoke was raised from the ammunition, the number began to decrease.

Enzeru - 1600

Gradius Guy - 1600

"Sorry to say, but I have you beat..." I pointed out.

"Because you totally have the upper hand right now," He pointed back out.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I end my turn, quit wasting my time!"

"If you say so," I pulled my top card. I didn't even look at it. "I'll stop 'wasting your time' right now. Reveal, face-down! Beckoning Light!"

"..."

"By discarding the two cards I have in my hand, I can add two Light monsters from my graveyard to my hand," I gently slid my two cards away, and held my hand out to gracefully accept the two cards my disk gave back to me. "And I welcome my Majestic Mech - Ohka (2400/1400, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 6) back to the field with his effect."

And with that, my beautiful creature returned, violet light overflowing from its maw, seconds from attacking. And yet still...

..."Not enough," My opponent crossed his arms. "Attack all you want with Ohka... It's points aren't high enough to end the ga–"

I flipped Honest around between my fingers, flashing the face of the card.

"When I discard Honest, my monster gains attack equal to your monster's attack... High enough for you?"

The blue interface rose from his disk.

"What the fuck is this...?"

"Attack, Majestic Mech - Ohka! Unleash all of your power!"

The violet light could no longer be held back. Erupting from Ohka's maw with a loud, powerful roar, the raging attack engulfed all of his monsters, all of his field...

Majestic Mech - Ohka = 3600 ATK

Gradius = 1200 ATK

Damage = 2400 Points.

Enzeru - 1600

Gradius Guy - 0

The blue interface slipped into a "danger" red as the points hit the magic number. The cards vanished from the field, Arata stood up straight with a quiet wonder in her eye. Slight traces of smoke escaped the man's jacket once everything had settled. I held my hand out for the cards, and donned my shy persona once more while my feet pressed forward. I detached my duel disk and left it with my bag, giving my arm a break and raising the half-empty deck case from my belt. The man just stood still. Waiting for me.

Arata went to speak, but nothing came from her lips. She had the right to be confused, and I honestly wouldn't blame her if she didn't say a word to me the whole time. I came as close as I wanted to be to the rail, and kept my arm extended without a word.

He just sighed. We watched each other for a couple of quiet seconds before finally...

"Fuck you! Fuck you, and fuck Arata."

He tossed the deck over the rail, and let gravity take them away...

Several things happened that second. The deck box tore open, and I threw myself after her cards... My entire body went over the railing, alerting the CIA-copies almost immediately. I gathered as many cards as I could get before they could seperate too far apart and forced them into the box with the rest of Arata's deck, sealed it closed, pulled my arm back, and threw the weighted, silver case up with every bit of my strength after the whole endeavor. I couldn't hear a thing behind wind and water, and soon the incredibly cold embrace of the sea held me tightly. It was a long drop... It was a hard fall...

I shot up from the minimal warmth of the bed(clinging to every bit of it), gasping for breath and shivering all over... I had on little more than my bra, and I grasped even tighter to the blankets that wrapped me with my face a deep red. The room was small, lit up only by the light of a dim desk lamp. Arata's legs were crossed over the top of the desk, with her chair leaned back and arms behind her head, watching me with a pen cap between her teeth. A bit of laugher hid behind the smile she gave me. "About time... Pretty ballsy of you. Wouldn't be surprised if you got a cold after that stunt."

I continued to look around the room... Both my bag and disk laid on the floor next to the bed, with my deck on the edge of Arata's desk. My clothes were folded and placed at the foot of the bed mattress, while Arata had changed outfits entirely. Her deck occupied the rest of the desk, organized card by card, taking up as much space as possible.

"At first, I didn't really know what to say... Some random girl jumps in after an altercation and decides to handle it for you, it's like something from an anime. I guess I still don't know what to say, so you try," She fought the awkward laughs.

"Um... I'm sorry miss... If I didn't get all of your cards..."

"Please," She sat her chair upright and swiveled around to face me. "You're kidding. Everything important is accounted for, you saved just about every card in my deck... What's gone is gone, and I'll do something to replace them. I'm more concerned about you," She laughed. "What the fuck?"

"I'm thankful... What do you mean?"

"You stepped in and defended me, but I've never even seen your face before... You totally didn't have to do a single thing that you did, all of my cards should have been stolen or destroyed."

"You didn't deserve that."

"You couldn't have known that, though. I could have been a terrible person; I could have deserved it."

"But aren't, weren't, and you didn't deserve it... I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundary."

"No such thing, sweetheart. There exists only limits that we set for ourselves. Set no limits, and there are no limits. Anyway," She poetically recited, and held her hand out towards me. "My name is Arata Muteki, and I want to personally thank you for what you've done for me."

The line was inspirational. Something that, while I may not have understood where she was coming from now, I did understand that it was truth. Setting no limits made sense. An unlimited boundary... I took her by the hand, and smiled as the blushes faded away. "Enzeru... Adokenai. It was, and is, my pleasure."

That poetic verse, and that one handshake, permanently changed who I was... Or who I thought I was. Or who I wanted to be.

* * *

-Character Illustration-

By

Meaghan "Onryo" Conley

Note: does not allow directly linking to other websites, input the . where (dot) is for the website to work. Make sure to comment on the illustrations too! Onryo works hard on those for me.

Enzeru - http:/duskeventide(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Adokenai-Enzeru-111842874?q=1&qo=1

Arata - http:/duskeventide(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Muteki-Arata-115631142?q=1&qo=1


	2. Chapter 2

**_Arata: Boo. I was supposed to duel Enzeru in the last one. You suck._**

**_Enzeru: The new way made more sense..._**

**_Arata: I better duel in this one, dammit. How are people going to be attached to me if I don't duel once in the first three chapters?_**

_**Yu-gi-oh! - Unlimited Boundary Redeux!**_

_**Chapter Two - Enzeru and The King of SDA pt 1 of 2**_

_**Theme Song : Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight**_

_**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=1P73OQd2wsU**_

_**Arata: God Dammit!**_

* * *

Arata and I stayed up the entire night. We talked the whole time. She told me that she was a well known duelist, and that she was surprised I didn't recognize her right away. She showed me a few of her first place awards, game mats and cards she's won as prizes, and a picture of her D-Wheel back at her home. One card in particular she showed me, Archlord Kristya, she said was almost one of a kind. It was a prize for topping in Worlds, and only three were ever printed. It was one of the most powerful monsters I've ever seen.

She was proud of her accomplishments, but she said, "They're not what define me. I'm kinda glad you didn't know who I was," she laughed.

"It wouldn't matter if I did. It wouldn't have changed anything."

"And I believe that," Arata smiled. "You're a genuinely good person, Enzeru. I feel like I've known you my whole life."

"I feel like that too," I smiled back, finding myself oddly comfortable. "I don't normally talk this much... I haven't been annoying have I?"

"Oh no!" She looked at me with a twisted gaze. "Are you kidding? You've barely talked at all."

"Sorry..." I looked at the floor.

"No, stop that!" She grabbed my face and made me look up. "Relax. We're friends now, you don't have to be nervous or afraid to talk or anything like that. Not while I'm around."

"Alright..." I nervously looked away to avoid her eyes.

"Alright. Promise?"

"Promise.

"Good. Now, you told me earlier that the deck you used today wasn't your main deck. What do you normally use?" Arata asked.

"Well my main deck is really similar, it's just still a work in progress. So I used some cards from it and some older cards to make a workable deck until I could get it finished."

"Reasonable. Would you mind if I looked at them? I could probably help you out."

I was surprised by her offer. But I graciously accepted. "I would be honored, Arata."

So she threw me my bag at me and I tossed her my deck box. She took out the two mixed stacks of cards and laid them out in front of her, with her own deck completed and tucked away. We discussed techs, reasons for some cards over others; overall she said she was very impressed. When she saw the card that brought the whole deck together, I could see her face brighten up. As time went on she threw out some card names and dug for treasure in my random box of cards. Within a couple of hours, between the two of us, we made my deck at least twice as good. "So, let's test it," Arata handed me the new creation and smiled as she unrolled two mats and threw them on the bed.

I had to wave my hands at her to get her to slow down. "Oh no, I doubt I'd be anything close to competitive against you. It'd be no fun for you."

"Nonsense," She assured me, flashing the bottom card of her deck at me once she got settled on the other end of the bed. "It's a fun deck, anyway. Good for play tests."

One game turned into five, turned into ten, and I stopped counting after that. It didn't matter the record, nor the life point difference, nor the experience level. The two of us simply enjoyed each others company, what more could we ask for? We laughed, she yelled in faux fury whenever I made a big play, and I smiled until my face began to hurt. We talked so loud that the people in the room beside us began to beat on the wall. We started exchanged yawns around 6 A.M, and I offered Arata her bed back but she refused.

"I never sleep on these trips back to SDA. I've got a lot of things on my mind." Arata said.

"Things like what?" I asked.

"Nothing you want to hear. Boring shit."

"Doesn't matter if it's boring," I curiously watched her suddenly serious face. "It's bothering you, so I want to hear."

"You're sweet, but really, I'm fine. You should go on to bed."

"Come on~. You can talk to me."

She laughed a little. "Well. At the beginning of every year, the Chancellor hosts a big game against the best players of the previous years to welcome the new people. It gives them a chance to see what they could become if they stick with the school. I'm always one of the people they choose to represent them, same goes for this year. My opponent though, I've known him all of my life. He's a real dick but he's really good. Our records are almost identical, I've barely got the lead on him. I've got a few more awards than him, but every year he gets better. It's like his mission in life to be better than me."

"That sounds so exciting," I could see why she was stressed, but it sounded more fun than anything. "You have a rival, but you're better than him, right?"

"I'd like to think so, but our games are always so close. Makes for a great show, but we've both got our reputations on the line whenever we play a serious match. His reputation is all he seems to care about. They call us the King and Queen of SDA. And I never know what to expect from him, his deck is something else."

"Does he intimidate you?"

"I'd never tell it to his face, but maybe a little. He sparks this competitive spirit in me that no one else can get out of me. My games with him are the only games I have to go all out with."

"He sounds amazing," I teased her. "How's he look?"

Arata laughed, a sudden crackle of her nerves peeked through her voice. "Nothing amazing."

"I want to be in games like that. Me and my opponent throwing everything in our decks at each other, relying on top-decks and sudden strategies to beat the other. Serious, heated games. It just sounds so fun looking from the outside," I helplessly admired her, trying not to weird her out.

"Well I've seen you play, and I don't tell a lot of people this, but our games are really fun. Like something out of nationals. Stick around me and I think I'll be feeling the same way about you as I do him. You're going to go far."

I wasn't sure what to say to her. "I'm glad you have such a high opinion of me... But where's it coming from? You've only known me such a short time, but you say such nice things..."

"Like I said before, I feel like I've known you all of my life. You never learn more about someone than when you fight with them. Just by playing the hundred or so games with you, staying up all night, laughing, you feel like a long-lost sister," She offered me her hand. "So, let's keep it that way. Alright?"

I kind of wanted to cry when she said that. I wasn't used to people being nice to me... I wasn't even used to standard kindness, having a door held open for you, a passing "good morning" from a stranger, I didn't know how to react to it. I just took her hand and used all of my strength to hold back tears.

The boat docked that morning, and a chime from the intercom alerted everyone to the deck. I threw on my white tanktop with blue floral designs and a pair of form-fitting, black jeans, then brushed my hair enough to make it look straight. My clothes were still a little damp, which gave me the chills, but they were wearable. Once I had my nightgown put away, my disk back on my wrist, my new deck ready for use in the slot, and the remainder of my belongings slung over my shoulder, Arata and I left the little cabin. She shared my love of black jeans, hers a little more loose than mine, and her choice in a matching black tee more fit her style. We stepped out onto the deck together, and followed the line of people leading off onto the island.

It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It looked like it's own little city! There was the central dome in the middle of everything, surrounded by four huge towers, and several buildings between each. I started asking Arata stupid questions to make me laugh, like "How's the economy?" or "Who's overcompensating with those towers?"

It took about an hour, but by the time Arata and I actually touched ground, the CIA rejects were there to meet with us. He gave us both a card and a suitcase and told us to move along, but Arata refused.

"So um... I see that my card is right, but hers is all wrong."

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

She showed me a stamp in the corner of my card, a U in red ink.

"That is your rank based on your test. Uria means that you barely passed."

"According to her file, that's true," one of the men said.

Arata looked at me, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I didn't think I did too bad. I beat the proctor."

"Well, it's not up to us, if you have a problem, take it up with the Chancellor."

The guard gave me a red jacket, and with that, we were brushed off and told to keep moving in the direction of the crowd.

"I'll raise hell about it, don't worry Enzeru," Arata smiled.

"It's okay," I assured her as I examined my new, red blazer and threw it over my shoulders. "I like it, I think it fits me."

"Too much red on you, girlie. Red hair, red gazer, now a red jacket."

I did a little twirl as we walked. "I think it's stylish. How come you didn't get a jacket?"

"I have mine already," She flashed me her card, showing me the A in black. "Black rank gives you the ability to wear whatever you want, so I've got a customized Raviel jacket."

"Arata!" Someone called from behind us.

"Oh, hey!" She responded with a wave.

A pair of girls, one dressed in yellow, the other in blue, ran up to Arata and surrounded her, pushing me off to the side.

"Are you excited for today?"

"We heard Alek got here earlier than everyone else."

"Yeah, I'm ready," She smiled. "I've got something planned."

"Looking forward to it," The blue girl clapped. "So... Why are you hanging out with an Uria?"

I couldn't believe that she said that right in front of me. People get bolder every day.

"She's not an Uria. Her name is Enzeru."

"She looks like an Uria to me."

"Even if she was, so what?" Arata was getting noticeably angry.

"It's just not good for your image to be hanging out with people who are that much lower than you are, that's all," The blue one tried to justify.

I'm not here, that's okay.

"Do I look like Alek? I don't give a shit about my image. And who are you guys, my managers?"

"You should care about your image! Your image represents the schools image!"

"The school's image can eat me..."

The two girls seemed to fade into the crowd after that. Arata's blood pressure skyrocketed after that. "I'm sorry, Enzeru."

"It's nothing, nothing I'm not used to anyway. Why do people care so much about my jacket?"

"It's discrimination by color, pretty much. Uria is lowest but it's a really broad spectrum. Yellow is average, Blue is upper skill level, and Black is professional level. But everyone is here for the same reason, they're just trying to get better. Only me and Alek are Blacks, it's not really a rank you can become through school work."

"Well they don't even know me. If they would've played a game with me, I'm sure we would've had fun. But that's not what it's about for them, I guess," I shook my head.

As we walked along a straight path leading into the central dome, watching trees pass us by the dozen on either end and following the oddly single-file line of people, Arata seemed kinda suspicious. She asked, "Enzeru, if you had the chance to prove to everyone here that you're something special, would you do it? Doesn't matter what it is."

"Probably... I don't really have anything to prove, no one to prove it to."

"But you're great, Enzeru. I want people to see that, don't you? A great impression on your first day I think would do amazing things for you."

"Well, I trust you Arata. If you think something is best, then I believe it."

"Great," She took my hand and smiled. "I'll meet you inside then. You won't regret it."

So she ran ahead once the dome was in sight. I watched her run into the building with her cell phone out, and I could hear the echo of loud voices inside.

When I had arrived inside, I was amazed by its size. Several floors of bleachers, a big screen on both sides of the room, and a large arena across the tiled floor. A man stood on the other end, his arms crossed over his chest, patiently waiting for who I assumed was Arata. He must've been Alek. His brown hair laid straight across his shoulders and barely touched his waist. His green, stone gaze refused to move from watching the door. I watched him all of the way into the stands, until I ran into Arata, who once more took me by the hand.

"Wha.. Why aren't you down there?" I asked her.

"Because, he's not facing me today. He's playing you."

"What? No! Why?"

"Because, people who act the way those girls did need a wake-up call. I don't have to prove that I'm good, but you do. What better way to show everyone who you are than to beat a Black rank publicly?"

"But... I'm not good enough for this! Why would he even agree? He's expecting you!"

"Who cares what he wants? Go, get down there?"

I couldn't think straight, the sudden shock left me confused. I walked out of the stands, as were my orders, and gently laid my case down as if to not bring attention to myself. As if standing in front of hundreds of people didn't bring attention to myself. Alek looked just as confused as I did. An overhead voice from the speakers above began to talk.

"I've just been alerted that Arata is backing down from the game! In her place, she is requesting an Uria to play."

"What?" Alek yelled, scanning the arena for Arata. "Bullshit!"

I could hear Arata laughing.

Opening my case and kneeling down to rummage through it, I found a more advanced duel disk, a new d-gazer, amongst other things that didn't seem near as important. I detached my older disk and put it in the case in place of the newer one. I kept looking back at Arata; I was too nervous, I didn't think that I could concentrate enough. This was so sudden, so out of my element.

"Arata has assured me that this would be a game worth watching, and if Arata says so, I believe our new girl deserves a chance!" The overhead voice tried to inspire the crowd, which began to get restless. "Everybody welcome Enzeru Adokenai onto the battlefield!"

I didn't get much applause, mostly from other Urias who were proud to have one of their own on the field. I could hear Arata though, clapping louder than anyone else.

"Don't be intimidated, Enzeru! Alek's a pushover!"

"Fuck you!" Alek yelled back at her. "What's your problem? Backing out of our game like that!"

"I figured it would be boring if everybody watched you get your ass beat by me; it's only the expected result! At least this way, the outcome is up in the air!"

"You must really hate this girl if you would doom her to this embarrassment."

"On the contrary, I'm confident enough in her to stake my all important 'image' on it. Beating her would be like beating me; impossible, but nice to think about."

"This is a joke!" He yelled again into the air, as if it would make it easier for the announcer to hear him. "Fine. Whatever, Arata! I'll embarrass you another time!" Alek cried out into the stands, casting his arm aside as he then focused on me, striking me down with his angry glare. I could tell that he was prepared for Arata today; in his gaze I could see days of preparation and nights without sleep in the shadows under his eyes. "You picked a horrible day to stand in my way, scrub. You better be worth it."

"I doubt it..." I whispered.

"She is, you cocky dick!" Arata yelled.

"Are the two of you ready to start?" The overhead voice asked us. I stood back up to my feet and closed the case. My new disk was secure, my new gazer fit perfectly, and as nervous as I was, I was yelling at myself to go through with it. It's what Arata wanted...

"Yes," I managed to cough out. Alek just nodded his head. Arata saw something in me, I just hope I can find it too.

A single card slot then protruded from my disk with a push of the start button, allowing for four more to unfold out space evenly. I knelt into a stance, waited for the auto card shuffler to finish, and awaited the chime to behind.

Duel Disks Set

D-Gazers Set

Alek let out a bored sigh.

**_Duel!_**

Enzeru - 4000

Alek - 4000

There was a little rock, paper, scissors display that flashed on the screen of the disk. It asked me for my choice, and I poked the paper button. It told me that I had one, and childishly I smiled at it, trying my best to hide it from Alek. I don't know why I cared what he thought about me... It didn't bother me that anyone else didn't like me. Wasn't exactly the warmest welcome into SDA. I drew my five cards, took a deep breath, and let the real me's confidence come through.

_The Agent of Mystery - Earth, Mirror Force, The Agent of Creation - Venus, Zeradias Herald of Heaven, Herald of Green Light._

And then once for my turn...

_Archlord Kristya._

What..? I instantly looked back to Arata, who just sat there smiling as if she had planned the whole thing, and she already knew the result. She must've put it in my deck when I wasn't watching it. I couldn't even believe I was holding such a sought-after card. I couldn't thank her right now, but it was suddenly all I could think about. Kristya's effect, when I have exactly four fairies in my graveyard, I can special summon her. As long as she is on the field, neither me nor Alek can special summon monsters. It was mesmerizing to stare at, its image reflecting an almost blinding shine. I would've spent longer dwelling on it if I didn't hear Alek.

"Come on, take your turn."

"Right... Um... I summon my Agent of Mystery - Earth (1000/800, Light/Fairy, Level 2) in attack position, and one card (Mirror Force) face-down!"

One card at a time entered the field, the first being my cute fairy dressed in green and blue, with white strips of cloth flowing from her arms. Her white hair flowed in the same manor as her green and blue wings, and after a quick flight around me, she stood at my side, armed with a small staff in her hands.

"When I summon my Agent, her effect allows me to add another Agent monster from my deck to my hand. With this, I add The Agent of Miracles - Jupiter to my hand."

My turn ended, and I expected a comment about how fast it took, but he didn't seem to care. "My turn, and I draw!"

He waited a moment to watch me. Was I nervous, were my legs shaking, was I pressured? If he had asked, I would've told him yeah, a lot. The best I could do was laugh, trying to keep my cool. He didn't really seem happy with that.

"While you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon my Vice Dragon (2000/2400, Dark/Dragon/Effect, Level 5) from my hand. When I summon him in this manor, his attack and defensive stats are halved."

I'm sure that wasn't important.

"But it doesn't really matter. When you conduct a special summon, you retain your ability to normal summon once per turn. So then I normal summon my Influence Dragon! (300/900, Wind/Dragon/Tuner/Effect, Level 3)"

I didn't look forward to whatever spawn these two monsters were going to create. Vice Dragon was a huge monster, bulging muscles and saliva dripping from its massive jaw. Influence Dragon was much smaller, but its claws and armor made up for its lack of intimidating features. He only stayed on the field for a moment, until his physical form seemed to vanish. In its place, three small orbs of light danced in circles, flying above Vice Dragon's head. The two took to the air, and Alek began to speak once more.

"With these two monsters, I can conduct a synchro summon of a level eight monster! Come forth, the darkness of my heart! Arise from his darkness and Reign Hell, Dark End Dragon!(2600/2100, Dark/Dragon/Synchro/Effect, Level 8)"

The stars turned Vice Dragon into the same body of light, several rings surrounding him until his body escaped sight. A tower of light hit the ground with a powerful gust of wind, throwing me to the ground and tossing Alek's hair around violently. From this light, a pair of menacing talons tore through. Ear-piercing roars, shredded wings, a spiked tail, and a pair of faces that glared at my poor angel. The face on its torso flashed its demonic fangs, and the face on its head continued to roar.

"And there it is, the asshole's asshole!" Arata yelled at Alek.

Alek just seemed to ignore her. He didn't even look in her direction. His expression didn't even change when he spoke about his monster. I began to pick myself up off of the ground, and his turn continued.

"Next, I remove my Dark End Dragon from play!"

"After all that?" I asked.

"In order to summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (2800/2400, Dark/Dragon/Effect, Level 10) from my hand!"

Alek slammed the card on his disk, and another tower engulfed his Dark End Dragon. From this tower erupted the shining armor of his newest dragon; this one was taller, its wingspan much wider, but it was the splitting image of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, with metal plates over each segment of its armored body.

I expected Arata to say something else; I found her comments calming, but when I looked to her, she seemed very concerned. Which then struck me with concern. I need that confidence back...

"Next, I activate the spell card, D.D.R - Different Dimension Reincarnation! By discarding Bottomless Trap Hole from my hand, I can special summon one removed from play monster."

Fucking. "I um... I activate the effect of Herald of Green Light from my hand! By discarding him and one other fairy-type from my hand (The Agent of Miracles - Jupiter), I can negate the activation of a spell card.

"God dammit. Fine. Delay your ruin by one turn, it won't make a difference. In that case, I activate my Darkness Metal Dragon's effect, special summoning one dragon from my deck or my hand. With this, my Vice Dragon (2000/2400, Dark/Dragon/Effect, Level 5) returns at full strength! And then, I activate Monster Reborn from my hand, special summoning my Influence Dragon (300/900, Wind/Dragon/Tuner/Effect, Level 3) back to the field!"

So getting rid of his Dark End didn't matter... since-

"Now, I can just replace my Dark End Dragon! Synchro summon!"

The two monsters faded, the tower of light returned, and once more, his Dark End Dragon (2600/2100, Dark/Dragon/Synchro/Effect, Level 8) screamed as it stomped onto the field.

"Are you scared yet? Do you regret getting in the way?"

I was, and I did. But as long as I had Mirror Force, I was confident that I was alright.

"I activate my Dark End Dragon's ability, by reducing its attack points by 500 points, I can destroy one card on the field. So fuck your face-down card!"

It was like a message from god that my Mirror Force was destroyed. Maybe I just didn't belong here.

"This is Hopeless Dragon. This is the deck that will one day defeat Arata; defeat everyone that gets in the way of my title. It's a shame that a scrub like you was forced to be the first victim, and I'm almost sorry that your end came so quickly."

There were some slight murmurs in the crowd, and I could hear the whole "she never had a chance, poor girl" deal.

"Let's get this over with. Darkness Metal Dragon! Attack her Agent of Mystery!"

The armored dragon prepared fire in its maw, and Dark End Dragon did the same right next to it. Metal Dragon's crimson fire erupted from its jaw and completely engulfed my angel, forcing her to scream until she shattered into light. Watching her go down like that, I knew that I was next.

Alek - 4000

Enzeru - 2200

"Dark End Dragon! Attack her directly!"

The black fireball came next, striking me hard and throwing me onto the floor, my clothes smoking as if they had been on fire. It may have only been virtual fire, but the force of the impact was real, and it hurt a lot.

Alek - 4000

Enzeru - 100

I just laid there on the cold tile, absorbing everyones doubts and laughter from the crowd. It hurt way more than any fireball could. Watching my life point counter on the big screen across the room go down to 100, my heart sank with it. My duel disk chimed, and I looked to the screen to see: Surrender? with yes or no below it. I struggled into a sitting position, and just read the word "surrender" over and over. The screen across the room reflected the same as my disk, so everyone knew that Alek gave me the option to back out.

I looked back to Arata as I forced myself back on my feet. She shook her head and I just smiled. I threw my arm out in front of me, and looked back to Alek. The screen reflected the "no" I answered with. "You done yet?"

* * *

_**Enzeru: Ever notice how much better the chapter looks before we get uploaded?**_

_**Arata: Stupid FFNet format. Times New Roman too complicated for you?**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Yugioh! - Unlimited Boundary Rewrite!_**

**_Chapter Three - Enzeru and the King of SDA pt 2 of 2_**

**_www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=MCF_BxV-08E_**

**_Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight_**

* * *

I spent a good couple of minutes just staring at my hand while Alek contemplated why I didn't surrender. Zeradias, who could search Sanctuary in the Sky to my hand. Venus, who wasn't very helpful without life points. And then Kristya, who could summon herself if I managed to get one more fairy in the graveyard. Which was possible, with Zeradias, but then what? He still had Darkness Metal dragon, who was just as strong as Kristya. And even if I killed Dark End Dragon, Darkness Metal could bring it back. I had to get rid of them both, but that wasn't happening with the hand I held. I looked at the top of my deck, weighing the possibilities of drawing who I needed.

He always came, I was more than confident that he was there. If he wasn't...

"You'll regret not surrendering. I tried to be nice; tie in your ignorance with your inexperience. See how this plays out. I set one card face-down, and I end my turn."

His entire turn depleted his hand. To think, that it was only his first turn, and he did all of that. It was amazing to think about how much destructive force his deck had. It was even more amazing to think, if this deck was meant to combat Arata, what the hell is she running that's better than this?

I put my hand on the top card of my deck. All I needed was the one card to bring my whole deck together. I gently pulled on the card until the deck holder gave it to me, then quickly pulled it out to my far side.

I then just stared at Alek, no longer smiling, no longer nervous or afraid, no longer trembling in his shadow. I added the card to my hand, but I never took my eyes off of him.

"By discarding Zeradias, the Herald of Heaven from my hand, I can add The Sanctuary in the Sky to my hand; I'm playing it straight to the field!"

As I spoke the words, my duel disk fed my hand the card I needed, and I threw it into the field spell zone. The ground shook beneath us with minimal tremors; the room lit up in divine light, the ceiling and tile replaced with bright clouds. From behind me, the structure depicted in the card arose.

"Sanctuary negates all damage done to fairy-type monsters, preventing you from taking damage. Would've helped you last turn, but what good does it do you now?"

I held up the card I had drawn, and grouped it together with Venus from my hand.

"From my hand, by removing from play one Agent monster, I can special summon my godsend! The wings which provide shelter, the light that guides my path to victory. I call from the clouds, special summon! Master Hyperion!(2700/2100, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 8)"

The clouds above us parted, and from them descended a large, red ring. The ring spiraled in the air, and soon filled with dark red light. There was a quick flash, before the human form of my angel came forth. Its black robes lined with golden designs, golden armor plates rested on its shoulders and held shining golden wings to its back. He brought his hands together, a crimson orb separating them by nearly a foot.

"Nothing that compares to my dragons."

"I then reveal my graveyard, showing that I have four fairies residing there. Earth, Jupiter, Herald, and Zeradias. Monsters who have thrown themselves in the way to stop your monsters. Monsters who have fallen, who once more gain power," the image of all four of the monsters then appeared on the field, their holograms faded, but they all stood behind Hyperion as their leader. Aleks sudden expression told me a lot. He knew why I was showing him the numbers. He knew why I needed four monsters.

"...You're kidding."

"With their spirits, I special summon the body of my potential, she who shatters the threshold of my limits! Special summon, my unlimited boundary! Archlord Kristya! (2800/2300, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 8)"

I could hear Arata cheering and yelling in the background, her applause louder than anyone else's. Alek couldn't believe what he was looking at. The glittering shine of the armored angel, her red wings extended to their full span, her fists clenched and her arms crossed beside Hyperion, with the four spirits standing behind her.

"Luck sack. So bad." Alek murmured.

"And now, Hyperion's monster effect! By removing from play two fairies from my graveyard, I can destroy two cards on the field. This is why I needed my Sanctuary. Without it, two of your cards would remain, and gaining advantage would be a lot harder," Earth and Jupiter flew to Hyperion's side, their spirits fading into the crimson orb he held in his hands. The orb had doubled in size, waiting for my order. "Hyperion! Destroy Darkness Metal Dragon, and Alek's Dark-End Dragon!"

The orb was thrown forward, and Alek's entire field was engulfed in the dark red flames and light, singing his clothes but forcing no sound or reaction otherwise. From this fire emerged Alek, who still remained in the way. I was taking a huge risk by not destroying his face-down. But I couldn't allow him to have another turn. I had to win this turn, or I wasn't going to win. Necessary risks like that appear often, and judging when to take them and when to take a hit is a big part of the game.

"And now, Master Hyperion! Attack Alek's life-points directly!"

Hyperion prepared another orb, and once more threw it into Alek's field, this time engulfing him in a tower of fire, tossing his body around, but still he retained his composure.

Alek - 1300

Enzeru - 100

Allowing the attack to go through suggested to me that his face-down could not stop attacks. Which meant I was in the clear. Unless he was waiting for Kristya...

"And Archlord Kristya, attack his life points directly!"

"Reveal face-down," Alek held his arm out. "Compulsory Evacuation Device!"

God dammit!

"Compulsory returns Kristya to your hand, and out of my damn hair. Allowing her to live would've ruined my entire deck. And since you removed two of your fairies, you no longer have the required four in your graveyard to summon her."

Alek - 1300

Enzeru - 100

Despite how it looked, not destroying his face-down was a good call. Allowing him to keep either Red-Eyes or Dark End would have ensured that I would have lost. Even if I had chosen it to be destroyed instead, he could've chained it, and I would've wasted my effect. Kristya looked back at me for a moment, and a flash of light brought her back to my hand.

"A good effort, I have to say. I know when to recognize good plays," Alek sighed. He was complimenting me? That was odd. Even though the life-point difference was so great, I still smiled. Someone as good as him said that about me.

"Thank you. You too! I can't seem to stop your deck," I laughed a little. "You put a lot of work into it. I end my turn."

He smiled a little, put a hand on his top card, and suddenly his smile was gone. My heart sank very low after that. His face completely changed; he was angry, and his eyes... changed colors. The screen suddenly highlighted his face, and I couldn't believe what I was looking at. The whites of his eyes had completely darkened to black, and the color faded into a deep red. He pulled the top card of his deck, and flashed the face towards me, allowing the camera to zoom in on it as well. The card face was completely blank, white, and as he slammed the card onto his disk, the card image slowly faded in from the bottom.

"You honestly thought you could come up here and make a fool out of me?"

"What..?"

"There's no way in hell you would ever beat me. No matter what Arata told you, no matter what she ever says to you, you will never reach my level!"

The field in front of us became black, and from his side, a small spiral resembling a whirlpool spun. From the spiral, a black tower arose similar to those of our boss monsters. "There's no limit to the darkness in this one's heart. No other hands are worthy of guiding my own. Our combined power doesn't know the face of defeat. Special summon!"

From this tower, a pair of very large hands forced forward, the skin grey with long talons and spiked cuffs on each arm. Black, bladed armor traced up its body, the bends of its body outlines in drills. The black faded, revealing the dragon's full form, coated in blades. Its furious eyes matched Alek's perfectly.

"What the hell are you doing, Alek? What is that?"

"DARK ARMED DRAGON!(2800/1000, Dark/Dragon/Effect, Level 7)"

The spirits of Vice Dragon, Dark-End Dragon, and Darkness Metal Dragon suddenly appeared behind him, and all three of them vanished into Dark Armed Dragon's maw, where a massive, black fireball was prepared. It roared and screamed as it got bigger, and bigger, and when it finally unleashed, it completely swallowed the entire arena. Arata screamed my name over and over. Something felt wrong... The fire was actually... hot. Instead of a force throwing me around, or simulated warmth, the fire was real... I protected my face what little I could, but every exposed piece of skin seared like it was being ripped apart. I screamed, but the sound of the flames drowned me out. I couldn't see more than two feet in front of me, but I didn't have to. Dark Armed Dragon was waiting for me. The fire danced around him, parting like the red sea, and with another malicious scream, it forced its bladed claw into me, throwing me back, into the door, -through- the door, and onto my back outside, bleeding onto the dirt path. Everything was spinning. My vision couldn't focus. I looked down at my body; three bleeding gashes across my chest. My clothes were shredded and singed, my skin and hair burned. I watched Kristya in my hand until my vision had vanished, and my life-points hit zero.

* * *

_**Enzeru: Wow. Much more brutal than last time.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Arata: Hey. Share Tab. Stop f*cking up the formatting. _**

**_Yugioh!_****_- Unlimited Boundary Rewrite!_**

**_Chapter Four - Remorse_**

**_http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=MCF_BxV-08E_**

**_Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight_**

* * *

I laid there for days. The hospital bed wasn't very comfortable, but after the first uncomfortable day, you become numb to it. I was out (or drugged) for most of it. But every time I woke up, Arata had been sitting next to me, her face red and wet with hours of crying. The first time I woke up, she was in the middle of talking.

"I meant well..." She cleaned her cheeks of tears. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I would never..." She was struggling to find the words. "And Alek. What he did..."

"No, Arata..."

Immediately, she shot up to her feet and threw herself over me.

"Thank fucking god!" She screamed into the pillow under my head. "I knew you would be alright..."

"Sounds like you thought I would die," I smiled.

She just hugged me tighter. "No, no, not at all... But you took a horrible hit... And you were bleeding... And I thought you were going to die and I'm so happy you're not!"

I did what I could to hug her back, but holding her against the bandages covering my torso caused my wounds to burn, so I had to let her go. I looked around and it wasn't that bad of a place, really. The bed was big but really firm, like I was sleeping on the floor. There was a TV on mute in the corner, but for some reason the captions were on, struggling to keep up with the words they were saying. The wall to my left was a big window, but it was covered by blinds, hiding the assumed-beautiful view from me.

"How long have I been here..?"

"A couple of days... Doctors said they would have to hold you here for about a week for recovery."

"What a way to start off a school year..." I laughed.

Arata tried not to laugh with me. "And it's all my fault... I should be the one lying here."

"It's not your fault at all. I went along with it. I kinda wanted to do it, really... And I don't regret it. It was fun."

Arata looked like she had been punched in the face. "You don't regret it? Look at you!"

"Well, yeah, obviously not the part where I bled until I lost consciousness, but the duel part was fun," I shook my head. "Any idea what happened..?"

"You don't remember?"

"Not very clearly... Alek complimented me, I was smiling about it. And then this."

"Yeah, Alek," Arata instantly became serious. Angry. "He played this new monster. I've never seen it before, but... when he drew it, he started talking funny. And when he played it, it destroyed everything. The whole arena filled with fire, and when everything settled down, you were found outside..."

"Right... Dark Armed Dragon came at me. Threw me out of the arena. Was anyone else hurt?"

"Not really... I mean everybody caught a bit of the fire, but no one as bad as you."

"What about Alek?" I asked.

"What about him?" She asked back.

"Is he okay? What happened to him?"

"I'm surprised you care after what he did."

"Well... I don't blame him for this either."

"What? Why not? It's all his fault!"

"No... I don't think it was his fault. He was... lightening up. Starting to have fun. And he complimented me. I don't think he meant to hurt me... He changed when he drew Dark Armed. His eyes were different, and his voice changed. I don't think it was really him who did it."

"You think so?" Arata sounded like she didn't believe me.

"I don't know for sure. I mean, I don't know anything about the guy. But I know the person I was dueling before he played Dark Armed isn't the same person who attacked me."

"Well, whatever you say. After the fire cleared, Alek was gone. No one knows what happened to him."

"That's sad... What do you think is going to happen to him?"

"I'm not sure. I'm thinking the Chancellor will try to charge him."

"That's not right... That monster was real. That fire was real. Nothing else was!"

"I know it, Enzeru. Don't stress about it, it's nothing for you to worry about. All you should care about right now is getting better, okay?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah. Alright."

After that, Arata left. She said she had class, and even though I'm sure she didn't need it, she was required to attend for appearances. The rest of her day, she had to tell me about later.

Arata told me that when she was leaving, she saw Alek leaving too. She said her heart sank and she lost the ability to reason for a few minutes. So she ran to catch up to him.

"Alek!" She called for him, with no answer. She called again, no answer. It had to be him, she thought. No one else wore their blue jacket like him. No one else had the tail in the back that hung to his knees. It wasn't his normal outfit, but it was the same one he wore the day he went crazy.

When she caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, he immediately spun around and swung his arm at her, knocking her back. He had the most angry face, clenching his teeth and almost growling at her like a dog.

"What the fuck? Asshole."

"What do you want, Arata?"

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?"

"Enlighten me."

Alek just shook his head. "What do you care, is a better question."

"Stop with the circling questions. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

He just laughed. "Get away from me. Go bother someone else."

As he turned to leave, Arata grabbed his arm.

"You're not leaving! What is wrong with you?"

"Let go of me. Right now."

"Or what?"

Alek jerked away, testing how tight her grip was. He was still for a moment, but Arata felt the burning pain that came with a kick in her stomach, and a push against her weakened form knocked her on the ground.

Arata couldn't believe what just happened. She held her stomach, biting her lips and trying to keep from screaming from the pain and throwing up. She forced herself back up and buried her fist in his face. They grabbed each other by the arms and just glared into the others eyes.

"You attacked Enzeru."

"You backed out of our match."

"I wanted to prove a point."

"What point? That you think you're better than me?"

"That I thought Enzeru had potential! It wasn't supposed to do anything but ruffle your hair a bit!"

"I prepared for days for that match. I..." He stopped, as if he didn't want to say the rest.

"You what?" Arata demanded.

Aleks eyes suddenly softened, and he let Arata go so he could stumble backwards. "What am I doing..?"

Arata just ran up to him and once more struck him across his face, almost knocking him onto the ground like he did to her.

"You should see what you did to her! You should see the mess you made!"

"That's what I was doing!"

Arata couldn't think of anything else to say. Was he really there just to check up on me?

"I wanted... to see her. I wanted it not to be real."

"It's extremely real, Alek! She could've died! Where the hell did you get that card from?"

"I... found it."

"Bullshit."

"Really!" He defended. "It... was just there."

"I don't believe you. You've changed..."

His gaze became hard again. "Yeah. I've changed. I'm stronger. No one can defeat me... No one can -touch- me."

Alek's duel disk chimed, and the screen displayed "Accept?" with a yes or no option. He looked up at Arata, who backed up further and had her disk activated.

"You're not serious."

"I am!" Arata yelled. "You think you can't be touched, let's see it! I'll beat the sense into you!"

Alek just watched her, on the verge of breaking out into laughter. He raised his disk, and accepted her challenge.

D-Gazer Set

Duel Disk Set

"You'll pay for what you did to her."

_**Duel!**_

Arata - 4000

Alek - 4000

"You tried to make a fool out of me, you'll be the one to pay. I'll summon my Axe Dragonute(2000/1200, Dark/Dragon/Effect, Level 4) in attack position, and set one card face-down."

The turn counter switched to Arata.

"I wasn't doing anything to you, Alek. It was friendly competition, something you don't seem to understand. My turn, I draw."

They watched each other, furious gazes exchanged between them.

"I summon one monster in defense position, and set one card. Go, dick."

Alek stopped responding to her after that. Only words relevant to his turn left his mouth.

"Alongside my Axe Dragonute, I summon my Lancer Dragonute(1500/1800, Dark/Dragon/Effect, Level 4) and construct the overlay network!"

Between the two of them, the beautiful green faded into a black ocean, spiraling slowly towards the center. The twin dragons looked at each other before they faded into light, being swallowed by the vortex.

"You're exceed summoning. Both of your monsters have the same level, letting you play them overtop each other to summon a stronger one from your extra deck. The monsters you used to summon it can then be used as tools for its effect."

"With them, I exceed summon my Kachi Kochi Dragon(2100/1300, Earth/Dragon/Effect, Rank 4) from the network!"

From the center of the spiral arose what seemed to be a small mountain of silver stone, and as the black faded, the face of the roaring rock-dragon. Two yellow orbs slowly rotated around its head.

"Attack, Kachi Kochi Dragon, destroy her face-down monster!"

The dragon roared, the waves from its voice shaking the ground and erupting fissures around its body. One of them stretched out under Arata's monster, revealing the odd form of a golem monster. Alek didn't have to ask; he'd seen Arata's deck many times before. He knew of the strange creatures that hid there. Creatures made of rock, magma, flames.

"By destroying my creature, you activate Laval Miller's effect. When he is destroyed, I can select two other Laval monsters in my deck and send them to the graveyard to join him. With this effect, I send my Laval's Magma Artillery(1700/200, Fire/Pyro/Effect, Level 4) and my Tender of the Laval Volcano(100/200, Fire/Pyro/Tuner/Effect, Level 1) to join my Miller."

"And then with Tender's effect, you can send one more Laval from your deck to the graveyard," Alek explained.

"You've lost too many times to me, Alek. Yes, and with her effect, I send my Laval Judgment Lord (2700/1800, Fire/Warrior/Effect, Level 7), bringing the count to four different Lavals in the graveyard."

"Whatever. I activate the effect of my dragon; if I destroy a monster by battle with its effect, I can detach one of its exceed materials to attack once more, opening you up for a direct attack." Kachi Kochi Dragon opened its maw and took a bite out of one of the orbs, and once more it roared until the earth split into fissures, pushing Arata back a bit.

Arata - 1900

Alek - 4000

"Just a flesh wound," Arata laughed confidently. "Are you done?"

"Yeah. Go."

Arata pulled her next card, and proceeded.

"As long as I have three or more Laval monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon my Laval Burner(2100/1000, Fire/Pyro/Effect, Level 5) from my hand."

Before the hologram of Arata's firy haired, massive rock monster with burning, armored fists stomped onto the field, Alek had a response prepared.

"And when my opponent special summons a monster, I can special summon my Phantom Dragon(2300/2200, Light/Dragon/Effect, Level 8) in attack position as well."

Staring down Arata's monster was an oddly bland, detail less dragon shape, with creepy, glowing eyes and several branching appendages.

"Fine. One more obstacle in the way. To join my creature, I then normal summon my Laval Forest Sprite(300/200, Fire/Pyro/Tuner, Level 2)."

A change of pace, this creature was just a normal, little girl, her skin dark and her hood hiding her face, but her long, red hair remained flowing. She crossed her arms and leaned against the towering monster beside her. The young girl soon faded into light after a tiny wave 'goodbye', and the two stars that floated in her place began to dance around the monstrous creature.

"Tuning my level two Forest Sprite with my level 5 Burner! Through fire and brimstone, let your rage come forth! Synchro summon!"

Burner had become surrounded in rings, and the two stars lined up with its body. The familiar tower of light filled the rings and engulfed the creature, and in their place stood a new force. It rested on one knee, kneeling before Arata. Massive, blue fists forced the colossus onto its feet, alerting everyone within a mile that he had been summoned. Several plates of body armor attached to its joints, and its left arm lit up with a red glow, showing off the cannon attached to its wrist. The archetype symbol of a flame imprinted on its chest lit up until the grey colossus rose up to its feet. Its cannon arm aimed at Alek, and waited for Arata to call its name.

"Laval Stannon!(2700/1800, Fire/Pyro/Synchro/Effect, Level 7)"

"He's nothing," Alek sneered.

"When Stannon is synchro summoned, I have to discard one card from my hand. So I send Kayen, the Master Magma Blacksmith(1200/200, Fire/Pyro/Effect, Level 3) away."

Arata observed her situation. Phantom Dragon had 2300 attack points, and Kachi Kochi had 2100. Both of them were easy targets for Stannon, but Alek's face-down card could've been a problem. The worst case scenario, it could've been a Mirror Force, which would open her up to defeat. So she looked at her hand, glanced at her graveyard, and proceeded to move.

"From my hand, I activate the spell card Rekindling. With this, every monster in my graveyard that has a defense of 200 points returns to my field! So, arise Kayen. Forest Sprite, Magma Artillery, and Tender!"

Suddenly, Arata's field was full of monsters. A fat, older man with a flaming hammer. A young girl hiding behind her hood. A golem with huge cannons mounted on its shoulders. And an older woman, appearing to be an older Forest Sprite.

"More food for my dragons. Nice."

"I'm not in much of a joking mood, dick."

"I don't know what you want from me."

"An explanation, an apology, something! Something to make right what you did."

Alek just watched her.

"Say something!"

"I don't know what happened, god dammit!"

He put a hand on his head and gently rubbed it, trying to sooth what seemed like a massive headache.

"I've made a mistake. I'm losing my fucking mind... There's something at work here... Something I can't control. The Dark Armed Dragon... it's different from other cards! I've taken it out of my deck, I've torn it, I've burned the mother fucker, and it keeps coming back!" Alek began to yell, peeking between his fingers as his hands held his head from splitting open. "Even now I feel it! My top card," He hastily pulled it out, and showed the face to Arata. "Here it is! It's always there!"

Arata looked at the card, puzzled. Influence Dragon. Not Dark Armed...

"Okay... Alek, maybe it's not your fault. I believe you now. Maybe something is wrong with you..."

"Get away from me..."

"I want to help you, Alek!"

Arata took a step forward. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed.

Arata threw her hands up and froze in place. Aleks eyes began to change.

"I can't do this anymore. Arata, I do this out of only respect."

The holograms then vanished.

"I have no doubt in my mind that if we were to duel, I would walk away victorious. But this..." He looked at himself. "I refuse to do it like this."

Alek turned to leave.

"No, wait, Alek! Maybe we can get you help, maybe we can fix this..."

"I don't want your help. I don't need you to sympathize for me! Get away and stay away from me! Next time, I won't be holding it back..."

* * *

Illustrations! FFNet does not allow linking to websites, so replace the (dot) with a . just as with the theme song long. For lack of a better camera, be gentle about picture quality. Check my profile for more illustrations.

Enzeru - http:/duskeventide(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Preparing-to-Duel-Enzeru-257943647

Arata - http:/duskeventide(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Arata-Muteki-No-2-257944971

Alek - http:/duskeventide(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Concept-Art-Alek-257945850


	5. Notice

Yugioh Notice... Again

I didn't forget about this story, I haven't quit yet, and I know it's been a while since I updated, but I have been very busy recently and I am thinking of putting the story on a short break(also, I keep f*cking forgetting my password for this site!). The reason is, as some of you may or may not know, I do play Yugioh rather competitively, and coming up is YCS (Yugioh Championship Series) Columbus. This would be my first championship series tournament, and I am very excited to attend. My team and I have been practicing and preparing almost non-stop since the beginning of the month. I do plan on adding to the story at least once or twice before then, but until then, I won't be working very hard on much else but improving my game.

The story will begin to pick up its once-a-week pace after October 22nd, so bear with me until then! And if anyone cares or I do well enough to brag about it, I'll post my results and my experiences at the end of a chapter. Does anyone else have any plans on going? Or, even better, does anybody play competitively or on Dueling Network? We should play sometime. If you don't already know about it, Dueling Network is a free Yugioh simulator that you can play right from the browser. It's got all of the cards, requires no download, and you can play as much as you want without paying a thing. Check it out if you're interested, and I'll see you guys then :3

-Alastor Nightshade


	6. Chapter 5

Answer in the comments: How do you guys feel about OC cards? I don't like them very much, really. Do you guys prefer reading with existing cards? Does using OC cards make it more interesting? I thought about making OC decks for like, main antagonists or something. OC God Cards, somewhere along those lines, but I feel like it would take away from the story a little. If I kept it at God Card variants, it wouldn't hurt. But I don't know. That's where I'm at now.

* * *

**_My lolventures at YCS Ohio_**

So hi, I'm back now with more story as promised. I took half of the month off to prepare for the YCS(Yugioh Championship Series) that showed up in my area, and I felt the obligation to go. It was fun as hell, had a great time and met a lot of great players. I did a lot better than I thought I would xd but worse than I wanted. I absolutely could not decide on a deck until pretty much the day of the tournament; I was between my beloved Infernity deck and my Agents, I figured that Agents would be a lot more consistent and it would be cool to do well with Enzeru's deck :3 so I finally went with that.

3x Earth

3x Venus

3x Shine Balls

3x Hyperion

2x Kristya

2x Tragoedia

2x Birdman

2x Effect Veiler

2x Kycoo (Got plenty of lols out of this card)

1x Honest

1x Sangan

1x BLS (Tried 1 Chaos Sorc in addition to BLS instead of one Birdman, didn't like it as much)

1x Jupiter (I don't like him, really. He was a great beater, it just never really came in handy)

1x Gorz

3x Duality

2x MST

1x Monster Reborn

1x Dark Hole

1x Mind Control

2x Bottomless

1x Mind Crush

1x Trap Dustshoot

1x Mirror Force

Ran something like that; admittedly I over-prepared for Dark World, which really turned out to suck, and I guess everyone said it was because of too much hype and lack of Dark Smog. No Dark World deck I faced gave me any trouble, it was the random shit that got me lol. I lost to Karakuri, which was one of the best decks I've ever seen, Six Samurai, which I thought no one would even try to play, so I didn't side for them and got raped, Gallis OTK, which I probably could have won if not for garbage draws, and another Agent deck by a player who was a pro at mind games. Overall, I got a 5/4 record, I beat up on two Dark World decks with a shadow mirror, a Dragunity deck after a BLS luck-sack, a Hero Gladiator Beast deck, and another Agent deck after some Kristya fun. 5/4 looks kinda clunky as a record, but if any of my losing games would've gone the other way, I would've made top 32, which was my overall goal. It's disheartening, but it was my first competitive scene and I did really well, just one loss too many for it to have been badass. I got a lot of experience and inspiration for UB, so I'll go back to what I'm good at for a while :3 No more bullshit, here's Chapter Five

_**Enzeru: Would it be in bad taste to make the theme song "Mr. Roboto" this time?**_

_**Arata: Yeah. It would. Don't do that.**_

_**Enzeru: Aww. But I love that song Arata!**_

_**Yugioh! - Unlimited Boundary Rewrite!**_

_**Chapter Five - Reposition**_

_**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=1P73OQd2wsU**_

_**Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight**_

_**Arata: Lolwhat? Our theme song got removed from youtube? Find a new link!**_

So the week went by, slowly but surely. Arata visited me every day, and since we had nothing better to do, we just talked. She told me about her life a little, her two sisters back at home and her fashion model mom. And her beloved D-Wheel. She went into more detail about it than her family, which oddly didn't surprise me. I avoided any attempt at prying into my past or my family. It wasn't worth talking about, not when Arata was just happy to see me alive.

I got up for the first time in a while and stumbled over to the mirror in the corner. I hadn't been wearing a top, but the bandages wrapped around my wounds held me like a bra or an undershirt, so I might as well have been wearing something. You couldn't see the wounds, which was great. But I looked... flatter... than normal. With a sigh, I threw my red blazer on to see if that made a difference, but it looked worse. I couldn't throw a real shirt on without a lot of pain; I didn't like having to leave the zipper up on the jacket, but even if the bandages covered me, it felt really revealing to leave it open. For now, mostly zipped had to work.

I went back to the nightstand next to my bed and threw on the duel disk bracer the school had given me. It was so light-weight and comfortable; and small when the disk was folded up. I looked at my deck to see Earth smiling back at me, with Kristya right behind her. My wounds stung a little when I went through my cards, but putting them in my disk made it stop.

A knock at the door grabbed my attention, and a tall man came through with two men in black suits behind him. Arata hung back in her chair and gave a casual wave as if she knew the man, and he laughed at her. He peered over his round glasses to stare at me with his bright green eyes, and just started to smile. The man wore a black suit as well, much nicer than the CIA behind him, with an elegant aura to both his stroll and his craft in words. He offered his hand out and spoke softly. "Hello, Enzeru. I'm Chancellor Mayes."

I looked back at Arata, confused. She motioned for me to go with it. So I grabbed his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"I was watching your game with Alek; I couldn't believe that dragon card. Believe me, we're looking for him."

"What's... going to happen to him?" I asked.

"Well, he'd be prosecuted. He tried to kill you... Expulsion, jail time, however far you want to take it."

"Oh god," Arata's face hit her hand.

"It's up to me?"

"You're the victim."

"...I don't want him to get in trouble."

"..." The Chancellor watched me.

"She's serious," Arata sighed.

"Really?" The Chancellor asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I don't want anything to happen to him for this."

The Chancellor looked back at Arata, as if to ask if my judgment was clouded.

"Just listen to her," Arata waved a hand. "Do what you can for Alek. She doesn't think it's his fault. I believe her."

Mayes seemed dumbstruck, but he shrugged his shoulders. "I like the boy; Alek's one of the best I've ever seen," Arata's eyes shot him a glare, and he laughed nervously. "But... we'll discuss this another time. I came to meet you, Enzeru. Your game was very nice."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"Arata has... alerted, me that there has been a discrepancy about your rank?"

I didn't really respond to that, just brought the color of my jacket to his attention.

The Chancellor watched me for a moment, lingering on a thought with his arms crossed. Arata actually sat up to listen by now. I was distracted by the two men behind him, who never even twitched. I went back to packing up the room while Meyes seemed entranced with his mind. I looked to Arata, and she gave me a motion not to be concerned.

By the time I finished gathering everything up, The Chancellor was ready to speak.

"I guess I could retest you, under different circumstances of course. It would take a while to process though... That's why we do the tests almost half a year in advance."

"Why would it take so long to process?" Arata asked.

"Transferring to higher classes, transferring to the appropriate dorm, and I have to run it by those in charge of that."

"Semantics. She can just dorm with me, the only important thing there is her classes."

"I guess... But she wouldn't have the same privileges as you, Arata. She'd have to stay in the dorm she's assigned, she'd have to follow the rules like everyone else."

"Not if she's a Black rank like me."

"You think she's good enough for that?"

Just kinda hanging out here.

"Of course I do."

Talking for me. Signing me up for things without thinking. But that's okay.

"Hm... That's not something we just throw around, Arata. It's... barely even a rank," The Chancellor sighed. "Enzeru, if you personally have a problem with where you've been placed, I will see to your file and have you retested this afternoon. I would say after two weeks time, if not sooner, your results will be in."

I didn't realize right away that he was asking a question, so a momentary silence came over. "Oh. Um..." What else was I doing today? "Yeah. Sure. Alright."

Arata cheered.

"Great," Chancellor smiled. "Whenever you are ready, Enzeru, have Arata take you to the lab."

"Why the lab?" Arata asked.

"Well. Alek broke the stadium. So there's that," He said angrily. "But also, I've been meaning to test a new simulator. I figure this is perfect timing for it."

That was the end of that, with Arata out of questions and myself just taking things as they come, I threw my bag over my shoulder and smiled back at Arata. "Alright. So, let's go!"

"So soon?" Arata asked.

"Yeah. Why not?"

"Alright," She smiled back. "That's what I like to hear. Let's go then."

So she took me by the hand, and the two of us left for the new challenge.

We left the hospital after the head desk gave me the okay, and I noticed right away the looks that I got from people. The nurses looked at me like I was a ghost, and once the two of us left, any passing person let their eyes linger for a moment that I still existed. I hated the feeling of people staring at me; they weren't even being subtle! Side conversations dropped, others just stopped walking as I passed by. Arata laughed. "You're famous."

"For what reason?" I complained.

"Surviving, I guess. Everyone knows you now as 'that chick that fought Alek, did well, and died', so they seem to think. To see you alive, well..."

"Scares people?"

"More like intimidates people. You're a badass now," She laughed again. "Sweet, little you is a terrifying, dueling monster."

"Well," I didn't know what to say. "Alright then."

We passed the stadium on our way to the lab, and I could feel my wounds burning again. Any area that could be considered an opening was completely sealed off with wooden boards. It was impossible to see how much damage had been done to the inside; it must've been hell in there for anyone who actually saw it. I could still make out where I crashed outside. It was a lot more painful to think about than I thought it would be... I was fine just a minute ago... All of a sudden, I was crying.

"Enzeru..." Arata consoled me.

"No, no," I assured her, drying my eyes. "I'm fine, really. I don't... know what that was about."

When we arrived, the Chancellor was waiting for us right outside. He led us through the automatic doors and down a mesmerizing, chrome hallway, to a door oddly separate from others. The other rooms on this floor had been mostly see-through, or large, or widely-spaced. This room was just a metal door. Seemingly minuscule compared to the others... Chancellor assured me that this was the place for me. "If you'll wait inside, Enzeru, you'll be given further instructions. We'll be watching you from another room, if you need us."

I looked back to Arata, who nodded at me to continue. "Good luck. You'll do fine."

"Thanks..." I took a deep breath and stepped through the door, walking right into near-pitch darkness. The door shut behind me, removing any trace of light there was. I clung to the door; sure not to run into anything if I didn't move. Several minutes later, I could hear the Chancellor's voice once more, and the blinding lights clicked on, revealing the surprisingly-empty room. Not a feature, beyond what sat across the room from me. It looked like another person; albeit pale, with an odd grey to his hair color, but he wore the same blue uniform. Had he not been tethered to the wall by wire and cords, I would've been convinced. He sat on the floor, slumped over himself with a duel disk strapped to his wrist. Before I could even ask, Chancellor's voice came back.

"This is an import from the Kaiba Corp in Japan," He began. "His name is Cairne-X... thousand? Zerozerozero?" He questioned himself. "Thousand sounds better. Cairne-X000. He's meant to simulate any level of dueling, providing a challenge for any opponent, while getting better after every loss."

"That's... interesting," I looked curiously to the robot, who had slowly started to move. The thick cords retracted into the wall, thus rising Cairne to his feet as his glowing, flashlight eyes had been pried open. He threw is arm forward as his duel disk activated and the cards in his deck shuffled. My duel disk then responded, the screen displaying a challenge. Yes or no?

"We based Cairne's deck off of an old professional's to make him as challenging of an opponent as possible."

Oh joy. I pressed "Yes".

_"Initiating. Dueling. Simulation. Zane."_

"Um... Duel, I guess!"

**Enzeru - 4000**

**Cairne X000 - 4000**

A coin gets tossed on the screen, and I choose right as I select tails.

"I'll go first, then."

No response.

I draw my top five cards; Venus, Earth, Honest, Master Hyperion, Mystical Space Typhoon, and the sixth, Light of Redemption.

_"I can use Cyber Dragon?" Cairne asked._

"What?" I asked.

"N-No! It's not your turn yet!" The Chancellor yelled.

_"Yes, Father."_

"Father?" I asked.

"Ignore him... Please, continue," Chancellor sighed.

"I... I summon The Agent of Creation - Venus(1600/0, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 3) in attack position, and sacrifice my life points for her effect." The golden maiden flew forward, dancing in front of Enzeru before settling with her arms crossed, three spheres of light swirling around her wings.

**Enzeru - 2500**

**Cairne X000 - 4000**

"The Agent of Creation - Venus. Pay 500 Life Points to Special Summon one Mystical Shine Ball from your deck or your hand."

I nodded my head. "And I use this effect three times, bringing out three Shine Balls(500/500, Light/Fairy, Level 2) in defense position."

The three orbs flew out from Venus' presence and took one of their own, each one separating onto the field.

"After that... I set one card face-down, and end my turn."

_"Draw Phase. Draw one card. Standby Phase. No action. Main Phase One. I activate Power Bond from the hand. Do you respond?"_

"Um... No," I smiled. It was proper, the way he was announcing himself. It was just something I had rarely ever seen.

_"I proceed. Two Cyber Dragon cards are removed from my hand and placed into the graveyard to activate the effect of Power Bond. Power Bond's effect then activates. The Special Summon of Cyber Twin Dragon is being attempted. Do you respond?"_

"No response."

_"I proceed. Cyber Twin Dragon(2800/2100, Light/Machine/Effect, Level 8) is summoned successfully. Power Bond's second effect then activates, doubling the A.T.K points of Cyber Twin Dragon."_

"Oh. Um... Pleasant."

_"The activation of the card 'Overload Fusion' is being attempted. Do you respond?"_

"No," I shook my head.

_"Probability is in the favor of Enzeru Adokenai's face-down being Mystical Space Typhoon. Attack success probability, 90%."_

"Hey now," I waved my hand. "How do you know that?"

_"The effect of Overload Fusion is activated. Two Cyber Dragon cards are being removed from my graveyard. The summon of Cyber Twin Dragon is being attempted. Do you respond?"_

"No! It's MST, alright? Stop asking me, please."

_"Probability of Enzeru Adokenai's face-down being Mystical Space Typhoon probability decreased. Attack success probability at 85%. Overload Fusion special summons Cyber Twin Dragon(2800/2100, Light/Machine/Effect, Level 8) in A.T.K. position."_

"...That's fine, I guess. No big deal," I say as I stare down two massive, screeching, two-headed dragons.

_"Probability of Enzeru Adokenai's hand containing the card 'Honest', a one-in-forty chance."_

I tried not to respond, as to not give away that that I did indeed hold Honest. It was probably the only reason I wouldn't mercilessly lose right now.

_"I retain my Normal Summon for turn one. The normal summon of Cyber Kirin is being attempted. Enzeru Adokenai has requested that I stop asking for a response. I normal summon Cyber Kirin(300/800, Light/Machine/Effect, Level 3) in A.T.K position. I then use the effect of Cyber Kirin to negate all effect damage to my life points."_

"Right. Okay. Cause of Power Bond. I got you."

Normally, if you let the effect of Power Bond go without notice, it will burn you for the attack points of the monster you summoned. Despite sounding like a requirement, it is not a cost to activate the effect of Power Bond, so it is considered effect damage, thus easily negated.

_"Enzeru Adokenai's stress levels remain mostly unchanged. The probability of her hand containing Honest increases. I declare an attack with Cyber Twin Dragon with 2800 A.T.K points. My A.T.K target is Mystical Shine Ball. Do you respond?"_

My hand rested on my forehead. "No."

And one roar and a flash of light later, one of the spheres vanished.

_"The effect of Cyber Twin Dragon activates. I can declare two attacks. My second A.T.K target is another Mystical Shine Ball."_

The second sphere had vanished, just as the first.

_"Cyber Twin Dragon declares an attack with 5600 A.T.K points. My first declaration is Mystical Shine Ball. My second is the A.T.K position Agent Venus."_

The second shine ball disappeared. When Twin Dragon had begun its final attack, I revealed Honest from my hand. Venus' eyes shot open as her wings began to shine. A second pair unfolded from behind her shoulders, and as her attack points rose, so did a golden torrent of aura around her feet. She took flight and rose up to meet Cyber Twin, and the two clashed until Cyber Twin shattered.

**Enzeru - 2500**

**Cairne X000 - 2400**

A necessary risk, if I had to give Cairne credit. If he didn't attack into Venus, his turn would've been mostly wasted. If he didn't attack into Honest, I would've attacked him using it, and I would gain more advantage that way. If I didn't have Honest, easily I would've lost.

_"One face-down card is set onto my field. My End Phase occurs. Your Draw Phase begins."_

"My Draw Pha... I mean, my turn, I draw!"

Celestial Transformation. No help there, really. I didn't think that I needed it...

"I reveal The Agent of Mystery - Earth in my hand, removing her from play to summon the blade that carves my path. Reveal, my unlimited boundary! Master Hyperion!(2700/2100, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 7)"

Familiar flames exploded from a tower of light off of the center of the field. I tried to look away; I had a theory on what would happen but I played it anyway... Seeing the flames dance as the body of my angel formed, my wounds began to sear more and more. I grabbed my chest and fell to my knees, lingering over myself as nausea fought its way through to my throat. The simulation prompted at my disk for the duel to end, but repeatedly, I said no. Instead, I pushed back at the pain. I stood right back up to my feet to greet Master Hyperion's full, majestic form waiting for orders.

"I... I then remove a Shine Ball from my graveyard to destroy Cyber Twin Dragon!"

The fire built in Hyperion's hands. He threw his arm forward and engulfed the metal creature in blinding flames, swarming him until its body shattered, just as the first.

"Master... Hyperion. Attack Cairne's life points directly!"

Hyperion grounded. Fire build in the both of its palms, and tight fists curled together. A pair of bright, shining wings flew out from behind him, and carried him off of his feet and towards my opponent. Both flames built strong, and both fists met with a powerful strike into Cairne, knocking him into his knees as the relaxing sound of a small life point counter rung in the room.

**Enzeru - 2500**

**Cairne X000 - 0**

_"I summoned Cyber Twin Dragon."_

I panted without a response in mind. I just waited for Chancellor to return with applause, and Arata to throw her arms around me, keeping me from collapsing.

"You did good, Enzeru," Chancellor smiled. "Two turns. Nice."

"Thank you," I smiled as Arata came to my side. "But... What's up with Cairne? It seemed like all he cared about was summoning Cyber Dragons."

"Well, that's what we wanted him to do. He's supposed to be able to play the deck of any player; the programming for the Cyber deck was simply 'to summon Cyber Dragon cards'."

I found a curious gaze on my face. "But... that's not what it's about."

"Why's that?" He returned my curious gaze.

"Well... I mean summoning Cyber Dragon cards may be the point of the deck, but that shouldn't be all he's limited to. If he has the ability to reason and think, he should be capable of more than just one strategy. If I played him again, would the duel be the same?"

"As close as possible, probably."

"Then I don't want this to count... It was fun, but if you're going to test me based on my skills, I don't want it to figure in an opponent who could've won but didn't. Maybe you should let Cairne figure a deck out for himself, instead of teaching him to play one he's forced into. It doesn't feel right."

Arata had to leave the room, but the audible "Whoooo" could be heard from outside the door. The Chancellor laughed at the sound, as did I eventually. Cairne just watched the two of us.

_"Father is satisfied?"_

"Ugh..." Chancellor tried to ignore him. "Well said, Enzeru. Certainly changes things as far as your profile goes. As for Cairne... Maybe he should attend classes as well."

"What? How?" I asked, unsure of The Chancellor's point.

"Well, the wires pretty much keep him alive, but why did they invent batteries? Like you said, Cairne has the ability to think and learn. Maybe he could learn to play on his own. That'd be something, wouldn't it?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "That'd be something."

_"Cairne would be something."_

"I'll see to it. It's exciting, really. Until then, I'll keep you updated."

As The Chancellor turned to leave, and the door slowly swung open, I caught a glimpse of Arata partying in triumph before she turned to face us.

* * *

OC - Cairne-X000, by deadman2020 (Wow, they won't even allow links to their own site. Lame.)

www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/1414411/deadman2020

Wow. Using OC's is hard lol I've used my own OC's, and my sister's, and some from a friend in my fictions before, and I haven't had any problems. This chapter felt a little.. awkward. I hope this isn't a trend that starts from over reliance on OCs. First arc is pretty much a bunch of one shots hinting a little at the main story, like almost any multi-arc series I've ever seen. Slow intro into a good story. I'll give it a few more chapters, but I hope I won't have to drop the whole OC thing altogether. But thank you to deadman2020, probably the only instance I'm ever going to use an existing character's deck lol

Dear FFNet. I would enjoy it if you stopped taking away my italics and my bold marks every time I uploaded. It adds like an extra half an hour to my workload and it sucks. I rely on them a lot. It's not fun. If anyone knows how to stop this from happening, it would do me a lot of good xd


	7. Chapter 6

/AN - So, it seems FFNet is going through some HTML trouble or something lol took me three days to upload this successfully. Hopefully this gets fixed soon, I'm getting pretty far ahead in this now that things pick up. Can't even put my favorite little line in there... Ruins the whole story. /AN

"So, um... Arata?"

"Yeah?"

"I... notice you hang out with Enzeru a lot. Maybe you could... help me out?"

"...Hm."

**Yugioh! - Unlimited Boundary Rewrite!**

**Chapter Six - Kouji**

**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=1P73OQd2wsU**

**Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight**

It hit me, just then. I had been at SDA for about a month. And I haven't been to a single class yet. What the...

Arata showed me around the huge, blue apartment complex that made up the Blue dorm. She showed me her room after the long elevator ride to the top floor, and my heart sank when she guided me in. Why did she ever want to go home?

The room looked like it could've taken up the whole floor. The soft, red carpeting, the dark ambiance given off by the bright sunlight hidden behind black curtains. There were two beds lined next to each other in the far corner, and oddly not surprising enough, there was a poster of Arata above the post of one of the beds. She looked a little younger, sporting a black, sleeveless vest similar to the white and blue one she had recently adorned. Her vest read "Team SDA", she wore a golden medal over her neck, and a large golem creature stood behind her. The top edge had "Arata Muteki" written across the top, with "Blazing Temptress" written across the bottom. I looked to her, and she bore a face of modesty and embarrassment.

"Yeah. Well. About that," She laughed. "I was 14, one of the youngest people to top a Worlds, let alone win. I was on a team with Alek and another black rank, and in the final round, it came down to just me and Alek. I barely beat him, but I did," Arata said proudly. "But coverage made it seem like he stood no chance, and no one ever cared about him or his achievement, he's got a lot of animosity towards me about it..." She shook her head. "I mean, he was 13 and made it to 2nd place. That's amazing too. All they cared about was that I won. So, Alek received no acknowledgment, never does in the bigger tournaments. Whenever he plays, he never seems to even get a 'good game' from anyone. He's too good for locals, and the pro circuit doesn't consider him good enough. I think maybe that's why he acted different when he played you; he was having fun."

I didn't really know what to say to that.

"I'd hate to think that our rivalry contributed to driving him batshit... It's happened more than once. But when we play, it's more than just a landslide. It's bare knuckles kind of shit, I won 50 to 0 in our last game," and then I began to notice something about Arata. Whenever she talked about Alek, if it wasn't the cold competition and trash talk, she became gentle and concerned. The softy that I am, I've seen enough movies to know what genuine care looks like. "He absolutely deserves the recognition, I've never disputed it. But the collection of silver medals must get painful to look at sometimes."

Bring it up. Bring it to her attention. Tease her about it. She's your friend, she won't get mad. Do it. Say something. "...He'll be okay, Arata. Where does he live? Maybe we could see if he's there."

"But... Chancellor said they couldn't find him."

"So?" I asked.

"So... wouldn't that mean obvious places are out of the question?"

"Maybe that's what they thought too."

"...Where do you pull this shit from?"

I laughed.

"Yeah. I guess we could try. He'd be on the other side of the dorm," Arata shrugged her shoulders and dropped on her bed. "I don't care what Chancellor says. He'll never know."

"Never know what?"

"That you're living here."

"...What?"

"Yeah. All your baggage and stuff has been moved up here, got a second bed, I got you the hookup, girl."

"I'm... staying here? Really?"

She nodded her head.

The room suddenly became more marvelous. Features I tried to ignore at risk of being jealous suddenly became that much more awesome. Arata took the big smile on my face as the thank you, and she waved it off. "No problem."

"I mean it, though..."

"Really, it's nothing," She assured me.

"But you've done more than this that I haven't thanked you for. You've... done so much, really. Why are you trying so hard?" I felt myself tearing up a little. "Why are you doing so much for me?"

"Because you're my friend, of course. No, it's cause I hate you," Arata smiled.

"Seriously," I smiled too. "I'm sure you don't do this for all of your friends."

"Well, maybe you're better than them."

"But I'm nothing special."

"Other people seem to think you are."

"But that's because of you, too!"

Arata just laughed again. "Fine, fine. Maybe I deem you more special than my other friends. Maybe... I don't really have that many friends. And, shit, if you stuck with me through Alek tearing you ope... wow that sounds wrong... open because of me, what's it going to take to get you to stop being my friend?"

"Well, nothing..." I answered honestly.

"There you go," Arata sat up to face me. "I'm not the most charming gal, and I never claimed to be perfect, but... well, my text inbox is pretty empty, if that gets my point across better. People don't... talk to me, like you do. I'll get smiles, respected glances, a hi once in a while. An applause when I play, cheers when I win. But what about when I don't? Who's there for me then? The way I see it, you're all I got," She laid back down to stare at the ceiling like boredom suddenly struck her. "Not to get sappy or anything. What time is it getting to be?"

'Like... 6 pm."

"...What?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Fuck!" She screamed and threw herself out of bed and into the bathroom. "We had class like two hours ago!"

"...What? Really?"

"Yeah! Fuck!"

Following her lead, she pointed me into the room with my belongings in it. I dug around my bags for fresh clothes. I had long since unzipped my jacket, finding it a lot more comfortable to let it hang open, despite the naked feeling I got from it. I wouldn't go out in public or anything like this, and I certainly wasn't going to class topless. Putting on a shirt was going to hurt so bad...

It took me a minute but I manage to slide off the blazer and throw on a soft-blue tanktop. Raising my arms high enough to get it over my head made my torso move in a not-so-agreeable way, and indeed, the wounds hurt. I was fighting curses when Arata came to the room to hurry me up, picked me up off the ground, and dragged me out the door.

"What... point is there in even going now?" I asked her as we ran.

"Um..." Arata stumbled over herself once we got to the elevator. "...None, really."

"So," I asked as we panted for breath. "What are... we doing?"

"Spazing for no reason..." The elevator opened and we threw ourselves in.

"Yeah... sounds right."

When we got to the first floor and the door pried open, there was a boy waiting there that Arata seemed to recognize, an oddly nervous expression on her face. The red blazer he wore matched mine, and made me feel better about meeting someone new. His red hair was longer than mine, but protruded in jagged spikes to the middle of his back. He didn't seem to see me at first. "Hi, Arata," He said sternly. "So... Noticed you weren't in class today."

"Yeah," She laughed quietly, looking like she was about to die laughing. "About that."

I waved at him. "Hello there. Your friend, Arata?"

The man looked my way, and his face instantly turned red. "Um..."

"...Yeah, Enzeru. This is Kouji."

"Nice to meet you," I looked back to him, who seemed frozen in his step. I offered a hand, but he didn't move. "I'm... Enzeru."

"H..."

"...Excuse us for a moment, Enzeru," Arata asked, grabbing Kouji by his shirt collar and dragging him around a corner hallway. I stepped out of the elevator before the door eventually closed and pondered on whatever just happened. Before they neared the corner to return, I heard Arata slap Kouji, who was holding the back of his head when they came back.

"So, anyway," Arata continued. "Kouji here was just about to challenge me to a duel."

"U-Um, yeah. That."

"Okay... Why did you guys have to go over there for that?" I asked.

"Oh, no reason. Kouji was just... nervous, of asking someone of my caliber to duel," Arata smiled over to him. "But there's no need to be scared, young pup. I don't bite," Kouji and I waited for the "Hard" that normally followed that phrase, but nothing came, and Kouji laughed and so did I.

"Yeah. Okay, sooo scared of you," Kouji tried to fake it, purposely failing at it. "I'm trembling, honestly."

"Good thing we don't have class, I guess," I joked, but Arata didn't seem to grasp it.

"Let's... get this over with," Arata took a deep breath. "Lead the way, Kouji."

Interested, and with nothing better to do, I followed them through the halls and out the back of the dorm. Kouji didn't say a word the whole way, and Arata tried to start conversations here and there to get either one of us talking, but they never lasted. Once we got outside, we continued on to the top of a grassy hill, mostly and oddly secluded from other, populated areas. It was only when everyone had situated into place that Kouji spoke again.

"So, what do you say we bet on this game? To keep 'someone of your caliber' from getting too bored with playing me."

"Oh boy, a bet. What do you have in mind, my friend?" This started to sound scripted...

"Well, let me see... I will wager... twenty dollars on your victory, Arata."

"Ooh, deal," She said without thought. "But, sorry to say, I'm broke. Whatever could I wager in return?"

Little bit more scripted... like she wasn't even trying anymore.

"Um... Well, don't fret, Arata. I'm sure a favor could be substituted for the money."

"...Did you just ask me for sex?"

"Wh? No!" Kouji's face immediately flushed.

"Did you just offer me money for sex?"

"No! No no no!" Kouji violently shook his head. "I was suggesting dating Enzeru!"

...

Arata was in tears, laughing so hard she could suffocate. The suggestion did not surprise her, but how rattled he became at her taunts could keep her entertained for hours. I expected a "Hell no!" from her, but to my great surprise...

"Sure thing," She said between gasps for breath. "You'll win a date with my little Enzeru. Too bad, twenty bucks is a good deal for sex, on my part."

"Arata! What are you doing?" I stomped my foot and yelled at her.

"Did she really just say that...?" Kouji asked, stunned.

"Winning free money, obviously. He could've asked for my deck and I would've accepted. I'm not worried."

"I mean... I might've misheard... Did she really just say that?" Kouji asked again.

"Bet a date with you! Don't throw me in this!"

"He didn't ask for me. It's a compliment, really."

"How is that a compliment?"

"Nobody fazed by that? Just... regular, everyday, normal garbage that comes out of her mouth? That's fine. I get it," Kouji dwelled.

"I'm testing your trust in me, Enzeru!" Arata lied. "If you believe in my abilities and my intuition, sit down and enjoy the show."

Both of their duel disks then activated, and they moved an appropriate distance away.

"Arata, I swear..."

"I promise, it'll be fine. Blame him for asking, not me."

I didn't even want to look at Kouji, let alone talk to him.

"You ready?" He asked, shaking off the shock and awe that dripped from his face.

"Hell yeah," She smiled.

**_Duel_**

_**Arata - 4000**_

_**Kouji - 4000**_

The coin flipped, and Kouji won the toss.

"I'll start, then!" Kouji announced, pulling the cards from his deck.

"Yeah, yeah," Arata waved a hand.

"To start, I'll summon Blazewing Butterfly(1500/1500, Fire/Insect/Gemini/Effect) from my hand in attack position!"

Fire swelled up from one of the monster zones before Kouji, and as the card had been placed, a pair of wings began to form around the body of a red butterfly.

"Then I'll set one card, and end."

"My turn then," Arata pulled the top card of her deck. "I draw for my turn, and summon Laval Warrior(1800/500, Fire/Warrior/Effect, Level 4) in attack position, and attack Blazewing Butterfly!"

While I've played with her many times, I've never actually seen Arata dueling with the holograms. The stone creature ripped apart the earth and crawled from a flaming fissure, magma dripping from his arms and taking the form of axes in each hand. Without another moment, it started running at Kouji's monster, slashing its blades about until the butterfly had shattered into sparks.

_**Arata - 4000**_

_**Kouji - 3700**_

Kouji felt the burn that came with losing life points, but he shook it off. I couldn't help but notice, after every move that was made, he turned his head to look at me, only for a moment. Any time that I caught his eye, he would turn away.

...Was he playing Arata to impress me or something?

"I set one card, and let the turn go to you. You nervous?" Arata smirked.

"Of course not!" Kouji proudly stood, drawing his next card. "My turn! And I play Gemini Soldier(500/300, Wind/Warrior/Gemini/Effect, Level 2) in attack mode!"

The soldier flew on to the field with a cross of his arms, a shuriken in hand as he attempted to strike a heroic pose.

"Afterwards, I equip the spell card Supervise to him. With this, my Gemini monster is treated as an effect monster. Otherwise, they're considered normal."

"Don't have to explain anything to me," Arata waited anxiously for her turn to start. "Your Gemini's don't have a thing on me."

"Arata, I swear," I repeated, glaring to her field.

"Relax, chica, have some faith."

"Gemini Soldier, attack Laval Soldier!"

"...Why?" Arata's face sunk.

"Oh, thought I didn't have to explain anything to you," Kouji laughed as his life points decreased.

_**Arata - 4000**_

_**Kouji - 2400**_

"My Gemini Soldier cannot be destroyed by battle once per turn, and whenever I take battle damage from a battle involving him, I can special summon a Gemini monster from my deck!"

"...Alright then."

"...You're so intimidated, I can just feel the seriousness you're putting into this," Kouji jokingly applauded. "Good show."

"Shut up," Arata laughed. "Continue."

"With this effect, Gemini Soldier allows me to summon my Dawnbreak Gardna(1500/500, Light/Warrior/Gemini/Effect, Light) in offensive position. To then activate the spell card Double Summon!"

"Wait, wait... me thinks my pro-senses are tingling. You... get to summon... twice, right?"

Kouji made a fake gasp. "Why, you're superhuman!"

Alright. I kinda laughed.

"Yes," Kouji continued. "I get to normal summon twice. With this, I tribute my Gemini Soldier to bring out my ultimate, Chthonian Emperor Dragon!(2400/1500, Fire/Dragon/Gemini/Effect, Level 6)"

"...So yeah, Arata," I glared at her again.

"Chill, chill," She smiled. "Wouldn't want to get you all flustered before your date."

Before I could talk, Kouji continued. The black dragon twisted and roared as its massive body came forth from the card space, and threw its arms apart to watch Arata's moves. "The effect of Supervise then activates, special summoning my Blazewing Butterfly back to the field."

"Whatever makes you happy," Arata shrugged. "Your battle phase has already passed, so you can't really attack with your new monsters."

"That's fine, I'm not worried. I end my turn."

"Alright then, my turn!" Arata drew the next card. "I activate Foolish Burial from my hand, allowing me to send one card from my deck to my graveyard. With this, I send Laval Judgment Lord. Then, I normal summon my Laval Gunner(1200/900, Fire/Warrior/Effect, Level 4) in attack position. You ready for this, Kouji?"

"Ready for what?" He asked.

"When my Gunner is normal summoned, I can mill the top five cards of my deck, so long as I have a Laval monster in the graveyard."

"...Okay."

Arata drew five cards, showed them to Kouji, and let them all settle in the grave. Laval Lady of the Burning Lake, Laval Lancelord, Laval Miller, Searing Fire Wall, and Molten Whirlwind Wall. "This makes four Laval monsters in my graveyard, with Warrior and Gunner on the field. But, while I have three or more Laval creatures in the graveyard, I can special summon Laval Coatl(1300/700, Fire/Pyro/Tuner/Effect, Level 2) from my hand for free. Thus... completing my victory. Feel like paying up now or should I just go through the song and dance?"

"I'm interested in the song and dance. I hope it's catchy," Kouji grinned.

"If you say so," Arata reached for her extra deck as Coatl vanished into two stars, spiraling around Gunner and awaiting for the call. "Let me show you what a real dragon looks like, Kouji. Synchro Summon!" Gunner ascended into the sky, surrounded by the green rings that stole the color from his body. The two stars lined up perfectly with a stream of light piercing through the rings. "Tuning my level two Laval Coatl into my level four Laval Gunner. Erupt, Lavalval Dragoon!(2500/1200, Dragon/Fire/Synchro/Effect, Level 6)"

From the familiar pillar of light erupted a pair of wyvern wings, glistening in the light of the flames that surrounded it. Its sharp beak made it resemble a bird more than a dragon, but the fire that overflowed from its mouth was unmistakeable. It shrieked as the light faded away, and Arata's turn continued. Kouji seemed unfazed.

"After that, the turn plays itself. Lavaval Dragoon!" Arata called, and the flames appeared. "Attack his Dawnbreak Gardna!"

_**Arata - 4000**_

_**Kouji - 1400**_

"And to end the game, attack, Laval Warrior! Destroy his Blazewing Butterfly once more!" Warrior charged once more, flailing its axes like a mad man and brutally stabbing the butterfly until it vanished. Instead of returning, Warrior remained on Kouji's field.

_**Arata - 4000**_

_**Kouji - 1100**_

"Which then activates my Laval Warrior's effect, with at least four different Lavals in my graveyard, he burns you for the attack points of any monster he destroys."

Kouji stepped back, his arm in front of his face to protect himself from the large golem towering over him. He slammed the axes down, and while Kouji wouldn't feel the hot sting of a blade, he felt the force of the attack bringing him to the ground as his monsters disappeared.

_**Arata - 4000**_

_**Kouji - 0**_

Their disks deactivated, and Arata caught her breath from all the yelled and laughing. Kouji, however, stayed down on his face. I clapped, in relief, and stood back up to greet Arata at her spot. I shook my head at her the whole time, and she did the same to me.

"It was all planned out, albeit poorly," Arata admitted.

"Yeah, wasn't very hard to tell. Was the duel rigged?"

"Oh, no, I beat him totally legit. He put up a good fight though."

"So... what was the point of all that?"

"The kid's nervous. I've seen him play before, and I think he's alright. He's just such a wallflower when he's not holding his cards. He's got a crush on you, he just doesn't have any balls unless he's playing."

It was an odd feeling, but I felt my face turn a little red. "Why would he... have any interest in me?"

"He says he saw you play Alek. Thought you were adorable, brave, ballsy. He wanted a chance to meet you, but every time he tried, he couldn't approach you. If he knew how meek you were, maybe he wouldn't feel so bad."

"H-Hey now," I protested. But she was right, I was a little timid.

"Why don't you go over and talk to him a little? That's all he wanted out of this, I think. He knew he was going to lose, he knew this wasn't going to work. It's not like he had a devious plan to get you in bed or anything," so blunt Arata... "He wanted a conversation."

I took a deep breath. "You overcomplicate things... You know that?"

She innocently shrugged her shoulders, a reaction I've come to expect whenever she does something questionable. I looked back to Kouji, and he laid motionless.

I walked over, after a long moment of contemplating. I don't think he really noticed me until I sat down next to him and said "Hey."

His head lifted from the ground, and he stared at me for a moment. The confidence and bravado he showed while dueling remained in fragments. "Um... Hey."

"Arata says you wanted to talk. Went through a lot of trouble for it... Figured you earned that much, at least."

I didn't mean to sound cold, I guess it kinda sounded that way after I said it, cause his face didn't seem to perk up.

"Yeah. Sorry about... all this. Looking back, it was a little under thought."

I pinched my fingers together. "Just a little."

But he laughed. "You probably think I'm a creeper now. I get that a lot. I can't really... convey what I want to say to people very well. I'd understand if you wanted to kick me or something."

"Well, at first, yeah I kinda did. Thought you were just a jerk. But you're funny, I like your sense of humor. I don't think you're so bad."

And then was when his face lit up. He picked himself back up and sat facing me, smiling now like he had relaxed a lot. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. But... I don't really know you. I'm... flattered, that you tried so hard. But next time, just say hi. We'll start with that."

He seemed surprised that I wanted there to be a "next time". But without thought, he nodded his head. "Right. Okay. Thanks..."

"Let's play together sometime. Seems like it'd be fun, Kouji."

I could hear Arata's snickering from behind me.

"...Really, Arata?"

_Alek pulled the curtain back over the window, a deep sigh passing through his lungs as he paced back to his bed. There, laid a single card. Dark Armed Dragon. On the bed post, there rested a line of silver medals against plaques. He turned back to the card, and reached for his nightstand drawer. There, he found a handgun, loaded with a full clip. Holding it in his hand just made the anger flow freely from his fingertips._

_"I'm tired of hearing your voice in my head..." He mumbled, his eyes glued to the card that had been driving him mad; that was ruining his life. He turned the gun around in his hand, and violently pressed the barrel against his own ribcage. "I refuse to let you make a fool out of me anymore..."_

_The dark voice echoed in his head; hysterical laughter. "You have no idea what you just started."_


	8. Chapter 7

**_Arata: Hey. You. Chapter Counter. Shut up. This is chapter seven. Not chapter eight._**

_**Yugioh! - Unlimited Boundary Rewrite!**_

_**Chapter Seven - Solid Frozen**_

_**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=1P73OQd2wsU**_

_**Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight**_

* * *

_**Got my line back :3**_

_"Well... Here, Enzeru. I want you to have this, as my apology."_

_"Oh, no. I couldn't possibly..."_

_"No, please," Kouji insisted._

"What a dumb gift," Arata teased as I laid in bed, staring at the black card. Solid-Frozen Gantetsu.

"I kinda like it," I smiled. "I can see some good plays with this."

"Wasn't a total waste of a day," Arata threw on a tanktop and pajama bottoms, sitting cross-legged in her bed and playing around with a bunch of her extra cards. Every once in a while, she'd find one she really like, go to her deck, and spend just as long looking for a card to take out. It was fun to watch for a while, but whenever I managed to find a comfortable, painless position to sleep in, I got a very uneasy feeling in my stomach. I didn't understand why; it was the most comfortable bed I've ever laid in. Arata eventually noticed my rotating in bed, and suggested I took a walk or got some air.

"Yeah, maybe... I don't really want to change clothes again though."

"Then don't. It's like 11, no one's hanging around this late."

I had to talk myself into that one. Even if I was the last person on the island, walking around in my pink nightgown didn't feel right. But I was desperate for sleep... "Alright," I finally stood up and strapped my disk on out of habit.

I waved to Arata, flashed that I had my phone tucked away if she needed me, and I was out the door just like that. Hallways were clear, thankfully, but it didn't prevent me from running to each checkpoint like I would die if someone saw me. I got to the stairwell and decided going up would be easier than going down. I bet the view from the roof was something else.

When I got to the top and pushed at the metal door, the instant rush of frigid air made me have second thoughts. My hair stood on end and I grabbed my arms close to my chest, as if it would warm me. Holy shit, was all I managed to think. It was like bathing in ice.

Regrettably, I kept going, leading my steps to the tiled rooftop, outlined by an iron railing. It was a featureless plane, but it didn't need the detail. The surrounding sky was beautiful enough to bewilder me. I made it to the nearest railing and leaned against it, happy enough with my head on my arms that I could sit there all night. I could see everything from this height; the shoreline with a gorgeous beach, the miles of trained forest, and the miniature city the heart of the island formed. The three dorms, beautifully lit at night, seemed to be the biggest buildings on the island, but inside the diamond they formed with the main stadium there were several smaller buildings that looked like they could be businesses. The buildings that surrounded the stadium were where classes were held, and the stadium itself held the offices of the main staff. I found it odd that I learned all that before any actual classes.

And about that. Was this how my stay was going to be? I loved it so far, but why I was I even there, really? Spending all of my time getting involved in whatever Arata throws me into, while she means perfectly well, how much further is it going to go? Am I just never going to go to class? I might as well be on a vacation, in that case. Does Arata even go to class? It was all very confusing...

But she is one of the best friends I've ever made. No one's ever done so much for me. Makes it really easy to forgive anything she gets me involved in. Like she said before, what would it take for me to leave her? Is she just testing me?

Then there was Alek... A reoccurring nightmare I've been having. I'm dueling Alek, and we're having fun. He's got a sweet smile, a soft laugh, and the look of intimidation wiped clean from his face. I'm giggling like a little girl, hating myself inside for it, but allowing myself to enjoy the moment. For some reason, there are flowers. But then his smile fades away, his eyes light up in red, and whatever kind of field we're in becomes engulfed by fire. I see the eyes of Dark Armed Dragon for a moment. I see the gentle eyes on Alek, crying and reaching out to me. Then I just see blood, and wake up sweating.

Why do I care so much? Alek wasn't my problem... I didn't even really understand what his problem was. It was something out of my reach and out of my control. Yet every time I thought about him, I felt odd feelings. Feelings I haven't really allowed myself to think about very much. Complicated feelings... I didn't like him, I'm sure I didn't. I didn't know anything about him. Had like, an hours worth of time around him. But... it is a warm feeling. A feeling I like. A feeling that, I was sure, Arata felt a lot of the time.

I try to shut him out of my mind. But he keeps coming up. Like, suddenly the world revolved around him, and I was being sent a message that I'm meant to do... something about him. What was I supposed to do? Duel him again, maybe die this time if it wakes him up? The thought made me tremble. This was all happening so fast. I just wanted to go to school, learn to be as good as Arata some day, make a living at what I love the most in life. I seemed to be the only one who believed Alek was any good. Not including Arata. I don't know what she thinks. If anything, I should hate him the most. I'll be scarred, permanently damaged by what he did to me. He tried to kill me. I should hate him. I should want him dead. But, what I seem to want most, more than popularity, more than professional status, more than having fun, seemed to be his safety. I wanted him to be okay.

"Hey, Red," A man called behind me, and I almost jumped out of my skin. I threw myself around, but before I could speak, the man was pressed up against me, his hand over my mouth as I screamed at him, trying to fight off the tight grip he had on my arm. I struggled around, tried to bludgeon him with my duel disk, but he seemed to take every hit like he was numb to it and held me tighter. The more I looked at his face, the more I began to recognize him as the man I dueled on the boat ride here.

Embarrassingly, I didn't really understand what he was trying to do. He was so sloppy with his hands and how he was trying to hold me still and keep a free arm, that I simply couldn't tell that he was reaching for my nightgown until he actually got it. My heart stopped and I screamed much louder, actually feeling a sense that I was in some kind of danger. I struggled a lot harder, repeatedly bashing at his head with anything I could move until he finally let go, before the end of my gown got to my waist.

When he staggered back and I was set free, the only words that came to mouth were vulgar ones.

"Fucking shit!" I screamed, ready to just run at him and beat him to death. I was surprised at how much of Arata started to rub off on me. New thoughts didn't have time to enter my head by the time he was back, wrestling me in his arms and trying fruitlessly to lift my gown and throw me to the ground. He managed to knock me over, but I would rather him rip my arm off or I pry his eyes out with my nails before he could touch anything on me.

I got him in the face with my foot and managed to put distance between us, and once I was on my feet, I threw my arm out to give my duel disk room to activate. He just laughed.

"I'm not fucking with that this time," He glared, and continued to come at me. There was a brief moment where I thought time had frozen, or I fainted from hypothermia and was hallucinating the whole thing, but there was a flash of white and the man was on the ground, holding his face with screams of agony. The woman that had struck him pressed her wooden sandal into his face, threatening to crush his skull. But she stepped off and allowed him to stand, only to turn right around and strike him in the center of his chest, cracking ribs and mercilessly throwing him onto his back, not even a twitch from his motionless body.

The woman slowly turned her head to look at me; her eyes were only half open, like she had been woken up or coming down from a high. Her brunette ponytail whipped around in the wind around her head as she watched, and her bright, blue eyes stuck to my gaze. She was like something out of a movie. The white and black robed hakama, the sash around her waist, the thick sword on her hip, complete with the sandals that appropriately "clopped" every time she stepped and the chopsticks stabbed into her hair. She was legit... some kind of samurai.

She took a deep breath of the cold air and began to speak.

"Are you... okay?" She tried to smile, but her eyes began to linger to other things.

"Fine, I guess," I lied, desperately catching my breath and trying to shake off the feeling of violation... I got away just fine, but he still...

"Stress doesn't look good on you," She pointed out. "You... are not who I was hoping to find."

"What do you mean?" I asked, even more confused than before. Though, I was sure if she sat down and wrote it out for me, I still wouldn't get it. Nothing made sense right now... My mind was empty static. It was nothing I ever wanted to feel again. The worst feeling a girl can feel.

"You... have the same aura as he did," the woman looked to me. I was too shaken up and out of breath to even concentrate on her. "Your body... emanates that same darkness."

"What are you talking about..?" I managed to cough out, clinging to the rail to keep my balance once I started straightening out. Pretending like it didn't happen... that was the only way I could think to cope.

"Pardon me," Her voice suddenly softened. "You don't feel it then?"

"Feel what?" I asked again.

"Good, good," She motioned for me to stay still, as she begun to pace about the rooftop. "No knowledge, no feeling, no signs. All good. But... it's very strong. Not good. 'The force is strong in this one'," She smiled to herself. "No. Not a funny time. But funny reference. Expected, I'm sure. No surprise factor. No zing. Still, makes you smile."

"What are you...?"

"From the beginning," She told herself. She turned to me, and her body straightened perfectly, just watching me stand there for a solid minute. "I am... Hyoujinn. You could consider me an... exorcist, of sorts."

"An exorcist..?"

"An Alan Walker reference awaits. But... -Man is very obscure. Not very popular. Not a widely understood reference. Not worth mentioning," She shook her head. "But, yes, an exorcist. I have an odd gift, if you will, to connect with duel spirits. Surely you're aware via this institution?"

"Well, about that... I haven't exactly been to a class yet."

"Wha? Really?"

"Yeah, I know. It kinda sucks."

"Well. In short. There is no short method of explanation. It is, in fact, extremely complicated and it would take a very long time to explain. But, in short, cards are alive. Not so much the cards can walk around and animate, but the presence of what is represented in the cards is alive. But not alive to where it can walk around and animate either. At least, not that we can see. They could be walking around, animated, invisible, living parallel to us in a parallel version of the world, maybe going to school to learn how to be dueled with."

"You're not making a lot of sense, Hyoujinn... Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, of course. Your concern is heartwarming. But your aura is so hard to ignore. How could you not feel it? It's like... everywhere you go. You leave a trail. Easy to follow. Honestly, thought you were him. It's overflowing from your body."

Oh, the images that brought up.

I had only looked away for a moment, but when I looked back, she was inches from my face. Staring at me. She put her hand on my stomach, and immediately I could feel the searing pain from the gashes. I jerked away from her but she stepped closer.

"You're in pain," She observed.

"Yeah..."

"What happened to you?"

"I was... attacked..." And suddenly, all of her nonsense clicked in my head. I felt a little humble as the words left my mouth. Kinda ashamed that it took me so long to stumble upon it. "...by a duel spirit."

Hyoujinn's face lit up, and she bounced back. "Yes. Yes, that is why. Your wounds, they glow with a black aura. It's not good for you. It does not match your eyes," she shook her head. "No, unimportant. I must apologize. When I get excited, my mind scatters a bit."

"No, no, you're fine. But, you know about this?"

"It's my life's work."

"Well then maybe you know something. You said I had the same aura as someone else..."

"Oh, yes, him. Not a very pleasant man. Sad. Tortured. The kind of wandering soul often sought after by dark spirits. His body did more than overflow. It was like the aura was the body and the body was the aura. No, that only makes sense in my head..."

"Was it Alek?" I asked her, even in knowing the answer.

"Yes, yes. Alek. That's the name he preferred. When I brought the aura to his attention, he changed. He preferred Alek no longer. Became angered by the word. We fought a glorious battle, however brief, and he locked himself into a room I could not enter," She then turned to the door. "But that doesn't mean you won! Coward!"

"You're... odd, Hyoujinn."

"It's a redeeming quality," Hyoujinn nodded. "But you wanted to know about the spirit, didn't you? Well... It's not an easy thing to describe."

"Of course not," I sighed.

"The spirit was... petrifying. One like I've never seen. One that I doubt I could've stopped had he turned and fought. The man, Alek, wasn't holding on very well."

"As hard as this is to grasp... I believe you, Hyoujinn. But I have so many questions. How'd it get there? How does it get out?"

"You take to the idea of duel spirits very well. Arguably the least skeptic response I've ever encountered, why are you so eager to believe me? Who is Alek to you?"

"Well, the spirit kinda messed me up. I saw it myself, it attacked me and burned me. I've been trying to make sense of it since it happened, maybe this is the only answer that fits," I wanted to hit my throbbing head into the wall, had there been one. "As for Alek, I don't know. I had a connection with him. A brief one, but we had one. Since then, I don't know. I can't seem to blame him for anything. I don't get mad when I think of him or what he did. Something in me wanted to make excuses for him, I don't want it to be his fault. Is there any way that he... wanted this?"

"At first, sure, maybe. That's what beckons the spirit. Your strong desire. If they deem you worth the contract, they'll propose an offer to you. An offer that, at first, may sound amazing to you. Everything you've ever wanted. Then, this could happen."

"What do you think about him right now? He can't control himself, right?"

"I would say so," Hyoujinn threw her arms together and turned her back to me. "I'm done answering your questions. I have questions of my own. Like, can you take him out if you had to? Are you even capable of beating him if you wanted? Can you stand up to duel spirits without your own?"

"I... I can't say," I felt like I knew where she was going with this. She slowly pulled the thick blade from her sash and turned to face me once more, pointing the tip into my chest. We stood there, silent, for a moment. Then my duel disk chimed, and I saw the blade of her sword widen and light up in sections to form the card spaces. My mouth hung open a little. Her sword was her disk.

"After seeing what I did to him, will you accept my challenge and stand up to me? If you can't beat me, you can't beat Alek. Do you deem this reasonable?"

"But... But it's cold..." I held my arms and shivered. "And I'm not really... properly dressed here. Can we postpone, or something?"

She shook her head.

"Ugh... Fine. I'll endure it for a little while longer," I raised my arm to push her blade away, and the slots of my disk shot out and activated from the bracer. My d-gazer... it wasn't really needed if there wasn't a crowd. I didn't think so. I didn't see Arata using hers, like ever. I waited for Hyoujinn to put hers on as she danced back to an appropriate distance, but she never reached for one. They were to help you see your monsters, their stats, your points, without having to look back and forth at your disk and the cards. It was something that I had a hard time getting used to, since I didn't have much experience playing with the holograms. After a moment of conflicting, I decided to put it on. It was dark, and maybe it would distract me from the hundred things going on right now.

"Prepare yourself," Hyoujinn warned, holding her sword horizontally and shoving her deck in through the hilt. "I want to see your best."

**_D-Gazer Set_**

**_Duel Disk Set_**

**_Duel_**

**_Enzeru - 4000_**

**_Hyoujinn - 4000_**

The coin was tossed on-screen, and I won.

"Fine. I'll... I'll start," I took a deep breath. In addition to being frozen and shaken up, I just wanted to go back to bed. But if beating Hyoujinn would give me the answers I needed...

Agent of Mystery - Earth, Celestial Transformation, Forbidden Chalice, Mirror Force, Archlord Kristya.

I smiled at the sight of Kristya. It wasn't something I got to see very often, but it wasn't forgotten about. There was still no thanking Arata enough.

"I draw for my turn," I announced, drawing Mystical Shine Ball. Dammit. "Whatever... I'll start by setting two face-down cards, and summoning my Agent of Mystery - Earth(1000/800, Light/Fairy/Tuner/Effect, Level 2) in attack position!" So the little fairy came forth, flying out from the monster zone and doing a twirl as she settled, hovering on the tips of her toes while her wings swung slowly, her beautiful robes dancing with the cold wind. She raised the small stave in her hand as I continued. "And with her effect, I can search The Agent of Creation - Venus to my hand."

The card ejected from my deck, and Earth swung her wand, joining the card into my hand. Hyoujinn didn't move.

"I'll then activate the spell card Celestial Transformation from my hand, allowing me to special summon my Venus to the field at the cost of half of her attack points," and once I played the card down, the golden woman surrounded by the dancing spheres appeared next to Earth, joining her in a hovering pose. The spheres shot off in different directions, and circled around to float in a line as my life points decreased.

_**Enzeru - 2500**_

_**Hyoujinn - 4000**_

"Using Venus' effect, I can special summon three Mystical Shine Balls(500/500, Light/Fairy, Level 2) from my deck or my hand. Unfortunately, I drew one... losing a card from my hand. But that's okay, as my field is now full of monsters."

Hyoujinn watched, still as stone.

"..." What to do now? I had massive field presence, which was great no matter how you look at it. But when you really dissect my field, what do I have? Venus will get destroyed, Earth can't really stand her own, and three shine balls. If I had a level 9 synchro monster, I could synchro summon and go into Kristya... That would be a guaranteed win. But... I don't. I have an 8 and a 7. I could make the 7, but it's effect certainly wouldn't help me after my Venus play. And I didn't even know what she was playing yet.

Well, there was Kouji's card.

"I guess then... I'll construct the overlay network!"

The wind suddenly picked up, and Hyoujinn might've twitched to it, but between us on the center field, the wind spiraled about and absorbed two of the Shine Balls.

"Overlaying two of my Mystical Shine Balls, forming my protective force! Exceed summon, Solid-Frozen Gantetsu!(500/1800, Earth/Rock/Exceed, Rank 2)"

From the dark spiral between us, the hulking figure slowly rose, its massive fists crashing into the ground to make the building shake. It slumped down to a kneel, and crossed both of its arms over its face in front of me.

"For each overlay unit attached to Gantetsu, monsters on my side of the field gain 200 points each to both their attack and defense, putting Gantetsu's defense at 2200, my Venus' attack at 2000, and Earth at 1400."

But I still had a shine ball. And Venus was getting destroyed... Extra defense, I suppose, wouldn't hurt. It would give me the chance to survey her deck.

"Then I'll tune my Agent Earth to my Agent Venus and my last Mystical Shine Ball!"

All three of them flew up into the air and danced gracefully around each other, Earth vanished into stars and lined with Venus and Shine Ball, forming the pillar of light on my field for the white dragon to slowly crawl out of, its arms stretched attached to its wings, and what seemed to be long, flowing, blonde hair danced with its serpent body. "Come out, my Ancient Sacred Wyvern! (2100/2000, Fairy/Synchro/Effect, Level 7)"

I was going to regret that. "I bring out my Wyvern in defense position. Her attack is determined by the difference in our life points, and since I have less than you, her attack points decrease by 1500. But her defense remains in tact, at 2400 with Gachi's boost. After that, I'm satisfied. I'll end my turn."

Hyoujinn, silently and dramatically, pulled her top card. She observed her hand for a moment, and went to her plays.

"A strong turn to leave on. But nothing will protect you from the onslaught," She sighed. "There will be opponent's much more merciless than I. Let's see how you handle it. I activate the continuous spell card, Gateway of the Six Samurai!"

From behind her, the tall structure began to form from a shower of cherry blossom petals, a wooden gate appearing at the base of a black building, with a huge symbol over the doors glowing in bright teal, with 12 lights spread apart the circle.

"Each time I summon a Six Samurai, two counters appear on this structure. Proceeding. Come forth, Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki!(200/2000, Earth/Warrior/Effect, Level 3) and follow, Kagemusha of the Six Samurai!" (200/1800, Earth/Warrior/Effect/Tuner, Level 2)"

It was then that the two soldiers were brought out at once, one of them had four arms, with four swords connected by lightning, and the other hid its entire body in armor, resting on the shaft of his spear. He vanished into light after only a glimpse.

"When Kageki is summoned, I can summon again. And when I bring together my two monsters, I can summon the ultimate warrior, untouched by any blade!" Kagemusha's stars surrounded Kageki, formed the pillar of light, and I watched as a pair of black wings came forth, followed by the white steel of a long katana. A man clad in dark orange armor stepped forth, both hands on his blade and ready to kill me at the sound of her command. Despite being a monster I had never seen before, this one was different in another way... "Synchro summon, Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En!(2500/1400, Dark/Warrior/Synchro/Effect, Level 5)"

"So far, I've summoned three Six Samurai creatures, adding six counters to my Gateway card. By removing four of them, I can add a Six Samurai card from my deck to my hand," so then, four of the lights shut down, leaving two remaining. "Grandmaster of the Six Samurai(2100/800, Earth/Warrior/Effect, Level 5), join your shogun on the field!"

An older man came forth next to Shi En, the white hair of age resting on his robes, his hands folded over the pommel of his katana. This one was different too. Two more lights lit up on Gateway.

"And while I control two or more Six Samurai creatures, I can special summon Great Shogun Shien(2500/2400, Fire/Warrior/Effect, Level 7) from my hand!"

"Fuck..." I sighed. I thought my turn was complex.

The crimson armored samurai stepped forth on the opposite side of Shi En. The three of them raised the katanas and armed for the battle phase.

"Four more counters get spent, leaving me with nothing on my Gateway. But with it, Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan(1800/500, Earth/Warrior/Effect, Level 4) joins my army!"

What I hoped was the last piece of this puzzle, a younger man with the same armor as Grandmaster pulled his sword free, and I watched his attack points rise to meet the stats of the older man. Two more lights lit up on Gateway.

"Attack, my soldiers!" Hyoujinn held her sword in the same manor as the rest of them. I started to think things I shouldn't have. Like, maybe she was like Alek. Maybe she had an aura I couldn't see. And maybe, what scared me the most, her monsters were real too...

Great Shogun stepped forward first. He leaned into his blade, and ran at my Wyvern. It was a move I expected; until he walked right through the hologram, freed a hand from the grip of his sword, and struck me so hard in my stomach, that I fell to the ground screaming. I would've been lucky if my wounds didn't tear back open, and I bled to death. I was on the ground, desperately trying to grab some form of breath, when I saw Wyvern shatter, and Shi En coming for Gantetsu. Was he coming for me? Would my monster stop it?

My Mirror Force flipped over, but it ceased to stop the march as Shi En brought its katana down on Gantetsu, whose arms took the full hit. I didn't have the ability to talk, but Hyoujinn explained.

"Shi En negates the effect of one spell or trap card per turn, so cards like Mirror Force cannot effect him."

"And... Whenever Gantetsu would be destroyed... One of its exceed materials gets absorbed instead..." I coughed, feeling blood run down my neck. "Reducing its defense to 2000..."

"Can't handle it, can you?" Hyoujinn asked. "You're suffering after one attack."

Grandmaster came next, slashing through Gantetsu and destroying another material and bringing its defense down even further. Finally, Kizan came to pierce through him, and in the same, solid motion, drive his metal boot against my head, bringing me to the ground, crying.

**_Enzeru - 2500_**

**_Hyoujinn - 4000_**

I didn't get up. I couldn't, for the moment. How was I supposed to win against this...?


	9. Chapter 8

AnonGuy's question - In regards to Solemn Warning, if I were going to use a card like that I would probably write the duels of the story using 8000 life points instead of 4000. If you were going to keep the 4000 life point rule, the reasonable option seems to be to reduce the cost of Solemn Warning appropriately. (2000 = 1/4 of 8000, so 1000 = 1/4 of 4000). But then at the same time, if you did that, you would have to consider the costs of other cards. Would you reduce them appropriately? It starts to get confusing after that. I'd just not use Solemn Warning lol. The fun part about writing the duels with lower life points is that bad cards, like... Blind Spot Strike, suddenly become playable and cards like Solemn Judgment and Dark Hole become broken game winners.

But anyway. I wrote A LOT today, but I'm only going to post these two chapters since they go together. I'll keep what I have in reserve and keep writing regularly, so I can keep a consistent pace.

**_Yugioh! - Unlimited Boundary Rewrite!_**

**_Chapter Eight - One Day of Peace_**

**_http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=1P73OQd2wsU_**

**_Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight_**

* * *

There was a huge, blank space in my head. I hardly recognized that I was even in a duel. My eyes kept pointing me in the direction of the man who attacked me. Then to my wounds, which I was sure started to bleed through the bandages. Then to the ground that I practically slept on. I pushed myself up, enough that I could see Hyoujinn and her monsters waiting for me to move. The only card in my hand was Kristya... But I had five monsters in my graveyard... I misplayed entirely. I should've only summoned two shine balls with Venus' effect. I'd be in roughly the same situation, but enough monsters to get Kristya out and that's all I would need to comeback...

I felt a sharp stab in my back and I jerked, my phone falling out of my gown. Should I even tell Arata what was going on..? Like I can't seem to solve my problems without her, now...

I debated on it for a long time. It was only when I finally got up to my feet that I threw my phone open, typed the shortest message possible to Arata, and put it back with a deep sigh. For the next five minutes, the duel didn't exist.

Instead, I turned to the man on the ground, whose groans hinted at his consciousness returning. Slowly, I managed to walk over to him. Hyoujinn called me back but I didn't listen to her. I didn't understand any other language but my thoughts. I stood over him when his eyes finally opened, and the first thing he did was smile. I crouched down, well aware that he could see up my gown, but by now it was nothing he hadn't seen. We kept the others gaze for a couple of seconds. I rested my hand on his face, just waiting for him to dare to laugh. The moment he started, my face twisted, my nails dug into his skin, and I slammed his skull into the ground as hard as I physically could. I could feel his skull crushing. The bleeding gash I gave him was well deserved. "Hope it was fucking worth it."

And the memory was gone. A sudden waterfall of relief tried to drown me. But it wasn't enough.

I then turned to Hyoujinn, pacing my way back to where I belonged, but didn't stop. I continued walking across the field and passed her monsters, who looked like they would attack me again, but they didn't. Like dogs, they waited for Hyoujinn to say so. I wanted her to. Or, at least, I wanted her to wish she did. I stood face-to-face with her, her normally still face shifting to one of worry, and I just watched her. The door almost broke off of its hinges as Arata stormed through it, screaming as a means to numb any of the pain and anger that came with her rush. But it was as soon as she saw the three of us that she froze in place.

I slapped Hyoujinn across her face, once more gathering all the strength in my body to do so. Arata was stunned. "If you wanted to beat me up... Do it your fucking self! You think I needed this? You think, after the night I've had so far, that I wanted your big monster spirit dickheads to beat me to the fucking ground?"

Both Hyoujinn and Arata went to speak, but I didn't give them the room. "Turn your power the-fuck off! Or, at the very least, give me a warning before they start breaking bones! What, you think I didn't comprehend the first fucking time I got hurt that monsters can be real? That Alek is dangerous? What are you hoping I walk away with from this? They're real, that's amazing, you wanted to show off? Give them a fucking handshake and I would've been just as impressed!"

I wanted to beat on her until she was in just as much pain as the man bleeding to death, but I was sure she was a much better fighter than me. Could've been the sword that gave me that idea, but it wasn't something I wanted to go against. She went to lower her disk, as if this was me giving up.

"No. Fuck that. Now, I want them to stay. I'll show you that, even with your field, even with your crazy advantage, my bleeding wounds, my mental stability, the freezing fucking weather, the concussion you've probably given me, and my broken ribs, that I can _still_ beat you."

"...I end my turn," She exchanged me glares, and I walked back to my position. I almost collapsed, but Arata ran over and held me up with an arm over her shoulder. She looked like she couldn't be more proud of me, but couldn't be more concerned. That side of me would probably never show its face again.

"Tell me about it later?" She whispered to me, and I nodded my head.

"Don't get the wrong impression," Arata yelled back to her. "I haven't even started with you yet."

Not literally of course, but whatever spirit possessed me to do all of that was gone. Once I was back in place, everything was back to the way it was before. But this time, Arata stood with me, and my head was much clearer.

"My turn, I draw!"

_**Enzeru - 2500**_

_**Hyoujinn - 4000**_

_One Day of Peace_

"I activate from my hand, the spell card One Day of Peace!"

"The effect of Shi En activ-"

"With One Day of Peace, the two of us draw one card. Then, until the end of your turn, neither of us can take any damage."

"...Works for me. Whatever 'epic play' you have won't end me, in that case."

I just smiled. Seems that way, doesn't it?

So we both drew, thankful that Hyoujinn didn't negate the spell. I didn't know until much later what Hyoujinn saw that turn. She could see one card in my hand, shining bright with a golden light. She could see my hand, shining with the same glow as I reached for the next card. And she saw that card light up even brighter as I pulled it from my deck, far out to the side with closed eyes. I didn't have to look. I knew what it was by the warm feeling in my heart.

"...I end my turn."

"...What?" Hyoujinn was shocked.

I just nodded and waved a hand. "Come at me," I smiled.

"Enzeru..." Arata beckoned, but I put a finger to my lips.

"My turn, I draw!" Hyoujinn pulled the next card, and threw down a monster into her last remaining monster zone. "And I'll summon my Legendary Six Samurai - Enishi(1700/700, Light/Warrior/Effect, Level 4) in attack position!"

I didn't even care what her monster looked like.

"Two more counters add on to Gateway, and I'll spend the remaining four to add Hand of the Six Samurai to my hand! With this, I've ensured that you cannot win! A field full of monsters, daring you to come at me. Shi En negating every spell and trap you play, on top of being indestructible while I have another samurai willing to throw themselves in the way! And, if you manage to make a dent in my defense, Hand will make sure any monster you throw out will die!"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yet, you don't seem to care. Where is your confidence coming from? What could your deck possibly do?"

"Yeah, really..." Arata murmured to herself. "What are you planning? I don't see it."

"Keep in mind, that I take no damage this turn, Hyoujinn," I reminded her of the very crucial fact at work here.

"I'm aware. And I'll end my turn on that note."

"I'm dying to know," Arata laughed. "You've got something. I'm looking at your hand right now. What are you hoping to draw, Enzeru?"

"It doesn't matter," I told her.

"...Why?" She asked.

"My turn, I draw!" And I pulled my next card without even looking. "Simply put, Hyoujinn, you pretty much beat yourself."

"You're mad," She shook her head. "There is no possible way..."

The wind picked up around Arata and I, and once I assured her that I was fine, she stepped back a foot to give me space. I pulled one card out of my hand, the card I drew next turn, and raised it high over my head.

"By removing from play The Agent of Mystery - Earth from my graveyard, I fuel the fire for this creature to rise. Clouds part in envy as the heavens smile down for my saving grace!" I threw the card down, and an eruption of fire and light danced around the field. The shining black and gold armor of the angel that came to my aid. The fire concentrated around his feet and gathered between his open hands, lighting the entire rooftop. "Special Summon, Master Hyperion!(2700/2100, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 8)"

"It won't be enough!" Hyoujinn panicked.

"And once Hyperion hits the field, the amount of Fairies in my graveyard reduces to four, clearing the way for the body of my potential! She who shatters limitation, my unlimited boundary!" The four spirits of my creatures, Venus and the three shine balls, rose to the field to create the pillar of light, with bright red wings forcing their way through. The shining white armor she adorned, the red sash that wrapped around her, and the bright light that surrounded her every move, she settled next to Hyperion as if the two belonged on the field together. "Special Summon, Archlord Kristya!(2800/2300, Light/Fairy/Effect, Level 8) While she remains on the field, neither of us can special summon monsters. And upon her summon, I can add The Agent of Creation - Venus back to my hand!"

"It doesn't matter to me. Approach, send your warriors to battle! They'll fall like everyone else!"

"So, what happens if I just don't attack?"

"...What?" Hyoujinn asked.

"Simple question. What if I don't attack? Your monsters aren't stronger than mine. You have no clear way to bump their attack points up. Without an extra monster zone, you cannot play Hand, which would be the only card that would wreck my field. So, simply, what if I just don't attack?"

"...I'd be locked in place."

I nodded my head, and Arata smiled wide.

"What if I just sat back and accumulated draws until I knew I could beat you?" I continued asking questions. "Maybe you draw a card to destroy Hyperion, or Kristya, odds aren't in the favor of both. Kristya hinders your deck completely by preventing special summons. Getting rid of her is a priority, but she comes back, Hyoujinn. Destroy her, and she returns to the top of my deck. If I accumulate draw cards like I plan on doing, putting fairies back in the grave is of no problem to bring her right back. So, tell me, what are you to do?"

If looks could kill. Hyoujinn was completely dumbfounded.

"No. There's no way that this crazy strategy works. Put it to the test, end your turn!"

"Gladly," I shrugged my shoulders and let the turn go. Hyoujinn desperately drew her next card and stared at her hand, probably full of monsters that could special summon themselves. No monster card zones. No counters on Gateway. Hyoujinn had backed herself into a corner. She ended her turn, and I drew my next card.

Herald of Orange Light

Then ended my turn.

She begun, drew, and ended.

I begun, drew, Majestic Mech - Ohka, one of my favorite cards. I ended.

She begun, drew, sighed an exasperated sigh, and ended her turn.

I drew again, Beckoning Light, one of the cards I needed for my victory. I set it, and let the turn go.

She drew, her head on her palm, and ended her turn.

This persisted, for a long time. She managed to destroy Kristya once, but as promised, she returned that very next turn. Hyoujinn was locked down, whether she wanted to believe it or not. I drew the final card that I needed, Honest, and smiled.

"Battle phase," the words perked Hyoujinn right up. "Master Hyperion, attack Great Shogun Shien!"

As if he had fallen asleep, Hyperion's response was delayed. The fading fireball in his hands ripped the air apart as it expanded, and aimed at Shogun through Hyperion's fingertips. "And by using the effect of Honest from my hand, Hyperion's attack points skyrocket, increasing by the attack of your monster!"

Hyperion, with 5200 attack points and a fireball ever-increasing in size, threw his arm forward to swallow Hyoujinn's field in flames, shattering the Shogun and all hope Hyoujinn had.

_**Enzeru - 2500**_

_**Hyoujinn - 1300**_

"I then activate the trap card, Beckoning Light!"

"I refuse to let this continue! Shi En negates it!"

"No, he doesn't."

My other face-down stared Hyoujinn in the face, and almost broke her heart. Forbidden Chalice. "The effect of my Forbidden Chalice quick-spell negates the effect of your Shi En for the remainder of the turn. I'm free to do as I please."

"This isn't happening..."

"Beckoning Light discards my entire hand, but in exchange, I can retrieve light monsters from my graveyard equal to the number of cards I discarded. However, the only one I care about is my Honest..."

Kristya rose in front of me, her wings spread as far apart as they could reach. She grasped her gauntlet into a fist, her white armor shifting to a bright gold, and a second pair of white wings unfolded from her back. I flashed Honest in my hand a second time as she flew towards Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, her attack points increasing to 4900, and her bright fist piercing through the elder man's torso. The force of the attack threw Hyoujinn back, fighting with the ground to keep a composure but in the end, reduced to lying on her back. Her monsters faded, her voice silenced, and her points fell dramatically.

_**Enzeru - 2500**_

_**Hyoujinn - 0**_

There was a wave of dust generated by the forces at work, and by the time everything had settled, all the monsters had vanished, and sight returned, Hyoujinn was nowhere to be seen. It was only then that I felt everything again, all at once. The pain from my wounds, the blood seeping through my gown and down my legs, the bruises, the sadness that came with being assaulted, a cold feeling of helplessness, and the shameful feeling that came from crying about it all. Arata caught me as my knees became weak and I fell into her arms; she put a hand on the back of my head and held me while I cried, unable to do anything else...


	10. Chapter 9

_**Yugioh! - Unlimited Boundary Rewrite!**_

_**Chapter Nine - Purgatory**_

_**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=1P73OQd2wsU**_

_**Morning Musume - Kanashimi Twilight**_

_When Alek's eyes opened, he saw a pair of wide ones looking back only an inch away from his face. Both of them jumped, and the child fell back from Alek's body and hit the ground. He started to cry and hold his head in pain._

_"What are you..." Alek was surrounded in the bright colors and childish images of a nursery. A brightly lit room cluttered with toys. He looked to the little black-haired kid rubbing his eyes, wearing overalls and a white t-shirt. Alek's blue jacket and duel disk had vanished, and only his bloody, white shirt and black jeans remained. He checked his torso; no bullet hole. A million questions rose in his head._

_"That wasn't very nice!" The kid yelled._

_"You were crawling on me!" Alek snapped, only making him cry louder._

_"I was... I was seeing if you were okay..." He sniffled through his tears._

_"God..." Alek sat up and put his face against his knees, hitting his forehead until he got a headache. "How old are you? You look too old to be crying so much."_

_"I'm six," he proudly exclaimed, holding up the fingers as if it were the only way he could remember. "How old are you?"_

_"Eighteen..." Alek mumbled. "What am I doing here?"_

_"Well... Mommy isn't home yet. So we're being babysitted."_

_"Oh please..." Alek relinquished his breath and laid back on the floor. He started pounding on his head. "I'm going crazy. This is a dream. Wake up."_

_The kid laughed._

_"What?" Alek snapped again._

_"You keep hurting yourself. It's funny."_

_"It's not funny, it hurts."_

_"But, you're doing it to yourself. Just stop if it hurts."_

_"Don't you have toys or something to go play with?" Alek asked to change the topic._

_"Nah. I don't like baby toys," The kid shook his head furiously. He ran to a backpack in the middle of the room and began to rifle through it. Surprisingly to Alek, he pulled out a deck box. "I like playing big boy games. Like Duel Monsters."_

_Alek smiled, kinda. "Oh, so you play like a big boy then?"_

_Did he just baby talk? He couldn't believe himself._

_"Well, yeah! I'm the best!"_

_"I don't think so, kid."_

_"No, really! I'm the best dueler in my whole grade!"_

_The kid reached into his shirt and pulled out the cheap, plastic medal attached to the end of his laniard. "First Place" was painted in gold._

_"Ha," Alek touched the dollar-store award and shook his head. "I used to have one of those. Didn't really mean much, though. Everyone else sucked."_

_"Mommy doesn't let me have a lot of candy," the kid said sadly. "But it was really fun. There was even a girl playing! What's up with that?"_

_Alek started to let himself gush. Stop it, he told himself. This kid pisses you off._

_"What kind of deck do you run, kid?" Alek decided to pry._

_"Dragons!" He smiled brightly. "They're my favorite."_

_"Well... I'm known to know a thing or two about dragon cards. Let me see what you got," Alek held his hand out, and the kid happily gave him his deck. He then ran around Alek to jump up on his shoulder, trying to see everything he did._

_"That bottom one. He's one of my favorites."_

_"Rabbi-Dragon?" Alek laughed. "Man. Brings back a lot of memories."_

_"He's so strong and cute!" The kid squealed. "And him. My friend gave me him."_

_"Light and Darkness Dragon..." Alek felt his heart sink._

_"Yeah! Almost as strong as Rabbi. But she said that its effect is what's really important. She said as long as I have him out, it's like she's protecting me."_

_"Kid... Your name... is it–?"_

_"Alek!" An old woman called in from the doorway. "Your Mommy is here!"_

_"Yay!" The kid cheered and jumped off of Alek, running to the doorway in excitement as a tall, beautiful woman wrapped in expensive furs came in, her head turned to talk with the babysitter. "Mommy! I won the tournament today!"_

_But she didn't say anything._

_Little Alek pulled at the bottom of his mom's dress, and she staggered back in anger._

_"What are you doing? This dress was so expensive! You're going to ruin it!"_

_"I... I'm sorry..." He got quiet, feeling the tears blur his vision._

_"Hey!" Alek stood up and screamed. But no one looked at him. "I'm talking to you, bitch!"_

_"I... was just trying to tell you that I won my tournament today!" The kid bounced back, as happy as he was a few minutes ago._

_Alek growled and reached for the nearest hard object, a block with an A on it. "Pay the fuck attention to me!" He screamed, throwing the block as hard as he could at the woman. It would've hit her in the face, where she deserved it, but instead it passed right through. Alek's mother disappeared, followed by the babysitter, the kid, and then the room entirely. And soon, there was nothing but darkness. Then, laughter..._

_"You..."_

_"Enjoying the toxin? I thought it was sort-of cute."_

_"Fuck you! What did you do to me?"_

_"You asked me for help, didn't you?"_

_"I would've never asked for this, Igor..."_

_The man appeared before Alek, hidden by the shroud of the surrounding darkness. Alek knew him well, though. He was the man who gave him the Dark Armed Dragon. He was the cause of all of his misery. He introduced himself as Husk. The man's head was almost completely wrapped in faded bandages, all but the red of his right eye. The lower half of his face hid behind a gas mask, and his bulky, hunched body behind the black silk of a cloak._

_"Now, now. Name calling isn't very nice. I didn't do anything to deserve that."_

_"You fucked my life!"_

_"I gave you a purpose, kid. You wanted power, and I gave you the best this world has to offer. How you handle it is not my problem."_

_"Take it back. Take everything you gave me back! I don't need you!"_

_"I'm afraid I can't do that. Our lord has taken a liking to you. He says you have the most potential we've seen in years... You could be so blessed as to be his host! And until we figure out where you belong in our little band, you're stuck here. It's better this way. You can't hurt yourself in here."_

_"And where the hell is 'in here?'"_

_"I don't believe I owe you any answers," Husk smirked. "But, since I'm such a nice guy and all. We're inside your mind."_

_"You're full of shit..."_

_"So vulgar, you are. No wonder nobody wants to be your friend. You're just plain mean!" Husk chuckled. "How else would I know about little ol' you and your Mommy problems? Or how to stab at every little tiny weak point you have? I could show you more, if you would like."_

_At the wave of a hand, the surroundings changed again. Alek was in a bright, crowded room, standing at the front of a massive crowd. He knew exactly where he was._

_"Welcome," Husk cackled. "To the World Championships."_

_"Fuck you... Take us out, right now! End this!"_

_"I'm not quite convinced that you're a believer, sir. Shut up and watch the table in front of you. It gets interesting here. Real plot twist."_

_All Alek had to do was look up. He'd see himself and Arata sitting at opposite ends of a table, swarmed with players. The game was being televised via the little orb that floated above their heads, getting an above view of the game._

_"Light and Darkness Dragon, attacks directly!" Alek exclaimed, pushing the card towards her to indicate an attack. The life point counter to their sides read the numbers in red._

_**Alek - 1000**_

_**Arata - 50**_

_"End this right now... Or I swear, I will kill you," Alek demanded._

_"Shush. Good part."_

_"God damn, Alek," Arata laughed. "Trying to beat me with my own card? Insult to injury, much?"_

_Alek, the one playing the game, laughed with her. "Don't try and take credit for this. I've been waiting for this moment my entire life."_

_"I wouldn't count your blessings yet. Mystical Space Typhoon that face-down you got ready to spring on me."_

_Alek shook his head. "Now, you know Light and Darkness negates that."_

_"Oh, goodness me," Arata smiled. "How could I forget such a crucial detail? Well, how about Heavy Storm to kill both of our back rows. Does he negate that too?"_

_"...What are you doing?" Alek put up a cold stare._

_"And what would his attack points be after that? You do have to pay for his effect with attack points, correct?"_

_"Yeah. 700..."_

_"Not such a monster now, is he? How about after I use my Foolish Burial spell card?"_

_"...200."_

_"It's painful to watch, isn't it?" Husk asked. "Watching her play mind games with you."_

_The present Alek didn't say a word._

_"I guess I'm out of plays... You may have bested me, Alek. For once," Arata offered a handshake._

_You bitch, Alek thought to himself. He hated every minute of this. Don't reach for her hand._

_Past Alek reached for her hand with a smile, but Arata jerked away. "Wait. Almost forgot. I still have a face-down."_

_And once she flipped it over, Alek's heart shattered._

_"Blazing Dust Explosion. Removes all Laval monsters in my graveyard to destroy your entire field."_

_The crowd roared, as if it was the most epic move ever made. Alek had her. Alek was going to win. And she pulled a card like that out of her ass. Past Alek was completely speechless._

_"Summon my Laval Cannoneer from my hand, who brings back my Lavalval Dragon from the RFG zone," Arata offered her hand once more. "Amazing game?"_

_"..."_

_**Alek - 0**_

_**Arata - 50**_

_Millions of pictures were taken at once. Everyone in the crowd screamed Arata's name. Alek's gaze sunk low. They were both on the same team; it didn't matter who won. It didn't matter to anyone but Alek. And the millions of people who saw it happen. His name didn't even get said in the broadcasts, nor the articles written, not even in the rumors people spread. Not unless it was how shitty he was at this game. Never won a Worlds, only topped._

_"Good stuff, good stuff," Husk clapped his hands. "Your life is like the high numbers in satellite TV. Every channel, you're getting fucked!"_

_Alek swung his body around and buried his fist into Husk's face, but it would've hurt less if he hit a brick wall. Husk didn't even feel it._

_"Oh. So it seems you can hurt yourself in here. Oh well."_

_Alek didn't care about the pain. He did it again and again, tickling Husk more than hurting him._

_"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stop. I'm getting kinda annoyed at that."_

_"Sorry to inconvenience you!" Alek screamed, never stopping until Husk threw him to the ground._

_"You two are so noisy," Another familiar voice chimed in, and a second figure appeared beside Husk. It was Alek, again. His eyes dark red, his hair sprawled out and his face twisted. But it was Alek. The voice that came out, that was Dark Armed Dragon..._

_Alek jumped up to his feet and threw his arm out, his duel disk appearing once more attached to his wrist._

_"My lord, your new body looks wonderful," Husk knelt his head to bow._

_"Gee, thanks," Alek smirked. "Not too good looking yourself, though. An ugly stick would do you some good."_

_Dark Armed Dragon laughed. "That's why I like you. Such a spirit on you. I almost feel bad about using your body."_

_"You two want my body so bad," Alek couldn't help but smile when he said that. "Then fucking duel me for it! Right here and now, I'll kill both of you!"_

_Husk roared with laughter. "You couldn't come close to my level, don't even joke."_

_Dark Armed cracked a smile, however._

_"Tell you what," Dark Armed said. "Sure. I think I will play with you. But, it's been sooo long since I've played in a duel... I'll be using the deck that came with this body, if you don't mind."_

_Alek looked to his duel disk. What deck was in his, then..?_

_"And, we play by my rules," Dark Armed stepped passed Husk, who insisted that he must've been joking. "No, this will be fun. If I win this little shadow game of ours, this body is mine. I don't even really have to bet for that, I could just take it if I wanted. But, if I win, not only do I win your body, but your soul will belong to me. I'll be devouring it when we're done. As much as I love your wit, I'm afraid I have to listen to your voice too much as it is."_

_Alek grit his teeth. "And if I defeat you, you leave. You shut the fuck up, and you leave me alone!"_

_"Fine, fine. Whiner. I thought we were becoming such great friends... But then you tried to kill yourself. I don't like that very much. You're just delaying the inevitable. I don't need your heart to beat to take your body. You pretty much gave it to me after that!"_

_"If the next words out of your mouth aren't 'let's duel', I swear to God..."_

_"Or what?" Dark Armed cracked. "Oops. I mean, let's duel."_

_Both of their disks lit up, their point counters rose, Husk vanished, and the background lit up with color. The two appeared in the SDA stadium, the insides broken and burned, but the dueling field still in perfect form._

_**Alek - 10,000**_

_**Dark Armed Dragon - 10,000**_

_"Let's duel, mother fucker."_

_"Game on, vassal."_


End file.
